p>Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA said Friday it awarded French oil technology company Technip a contract to build Venezuela's first offshore natural gas production platform.
The platform will be used for the Mariscal Sucre exploration and production project.
PDVSA, in a statement, reiterated that production from Mariscal Sucre will begin in 2012. The offshore gas will be sent to the mainland through a 115-km underwater pipeline and then processed in CIGMA, a petrochemical complex being built in Sucrestate, in eastern Venezuela.
Other ancillary contracts were also granted to Technip, including one to be a technical advisor during the life of the project, PDVSA said.
