Venezuela will pay oil majors Total and BP $262 million for the Jusepin oil field it seized from them in April last year, a government official who asked not to be named told Reuters on Monday.
Total and BP are due to sign an accord with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA later on Monday but have not specified the total compensation they will receive. Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie will sign for Total.
"PDVSA will settle with the foreign companies Total (55 percent) and BP (45 percent) in line with their respective holdings in the Jusepin consortium," a PDVSA statement read.
The statement gave no details about the compensation, but an official, who was not authorised to speak for the record, said the agreement was for $262 million. The field produced about 30,000 barrels per day when it was taken over. BP was the minority partner in operations.
Venezuela seized the field after the foreign companies failed to agree to terms under which the field would be operated as a "mixed company" with the Venezuelan state holding a majority stake.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is pushing ahead with a raft of nationalisations, particularly in the energy sector. He is using the bumper oil windfall of the Opec nation to pay companies targeted in nationalisations.
Monday's deal comes against the backdrop of tough negotiations between the oil majors and Chavez over multibillion projects in the country's vast Orinoco reserve of heavy crude.
Chavez has decreed the state will take a majority stake in four foreign-run operations by May 1, although he has given the companies, which also include Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp, ConocoPhillips and Norway's Statoil ASA, several additional months to reach the terms of an overall accord.
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