ROME, April 20 (Reuters) – Italian energy group Eni said on Monday it was in discussions with Spanish peer Repsol and Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA over terms for potentially exporting gas from the South American country’s Cardon IV field.
“We confirm that discussions are ongoing between Eni, Repsol and PDVSA regarding the potential and conditions for gas exports from the Cardon IV project,” an ENI spokesperson said, adding that no deal had been finalised.
Repsol declined to comment.
Bloomberg News reported earlier on Monday that Eni and Repsol had reached an agreement to start exporting natural gas from Venezuela by the end of 2031.
Venezuela said in March that it had signed “strategic agreements” on gas production with Repsol and Eni, with interim President Delcy Rodriguez saying at the time that the talks envisaged a 50-50 joint venture between Eni and Repsol.
Venezuela has accumulated more than $7 billion in debt towards Eni and Repsol as previous U.S. sanctions blocked the possibility for the two European groups to lift products from the country and sell them abroad.
(Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Gavin Jones, editing by Alvise Armellini)