MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela interested in Shell Argentina assets.

Venezuela is considering the possibility of acquiring Royal Dutch/Shell assets in Argentina with the purpose of competing in the local market.

Venezuelan Energy minister Rafael Ramírez admitted that the government owned Petroleos de Venezueal, PDVSA, is evaluating the acquisition of Shell assets that include an estimated 1,000 gasoline stations and a refinery with a 100,000 barrels per day capacity.

"We are going to consider the issue together with the new Argentine energy company ENARSA; you can say it's a great possibility", said Mr. Ramirez who avoided talking about further details of the operation.

"Recently we announced the sale of gasoline stations in Peru and Venezuela which inevitably have generated speculation but it's not our policy to comment rumors or speculations", said a Shell spokesperson in Buenos Aires.

This week Shell sold its distribution assets in Peru to the Chilean government oil company ENAP and a local group, an operation involving 41 million US dollars.

Last July Argentina and Venezuela signed an energy cooperation agreement which included PDVSA and the Rio Santiago shipyard for the repair and maintenance of the Venezuelan oil fleet.

Venezuela also exchanged fuel for food during the recent energy shortage in Argentina.