RusEnergy

BARVIKHA (Moscow Region), July 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russian energy companies have signed cooperation agreements with Venezuela's state oil and gas company as part of an official visit by the South American country's president to Russia. Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP and Venezuela's PDVSA agreed on the joint exploration of the Ayacucho-2 area in the Orinoco oil belt in Venezuela. Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom signed a deal with the Venezuelan company on the appraisal and certification of the Ayacucho-3 oil fields. LUKoil and PDVSA signed a memorandum of understanding and an agreement on joint exploration in the Junin-3 area, also in the Orinoco belt. The documents were signed in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez. Chavez told the Russian leader: "We are happy to be here, and this is an excellent opportunity to promote and improve our relations and open up new horizons." Medvedev said the Russian-Venezuelan talks would give "another powerful impetus" to bilateral relations.