US E&P Co Plans Venezuela Divest

Harvest Natural Resources (HNR), a Houston-based independent oil company, is aiming to sell off its 34% stake in the Petrodelta oil project in Venezuela. The company has already started talks with a potential “third party” to sell off its share in the venture in which it is partnered with state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, PdVSA, the company says. A spokeswoman for Harvest declined to offer additional details of the ongoing process. Officials at PdVSA could not immediately be reached for comment. HNR has said that it began negotiations for the assets on March 5, but noted that there is no guarantee the talks will result in a final sale. As of end 2011, the Petrodelta venture controls roughly 194m barrels of oil in 3P reserves, a combination of proved, probable and possible reserves held underground, a 1% decline from 2010, following HNR’s reserve review.