Eni aims for rapid development of Venezuela's oilfield Junin 5.

Eni, an Italian energy group, is currently negotiating contracts for its oil and gas projects. The CEO of the company said that once investment resumes the Junin 5 Oilfield will be developed quickly.

Venezuela is seen as an alternative to upstream activities in the Middle East, which has been devastated by war, after the U.S. ousted socialist president Nicolas Maduro.

"We have a very good discussion with the Venezuelan minister and PDVSA (the state oil company). Claudio Descalzi, Eni's Claudio, said that the company has a lot of potential with its American partners. "We have one of our best blocks, Junin 5," Claudio Descalzi stated in a call after results. Eni stated in one of the slides that presented its second-quarter results, "Junin 5 could reach a plateau of 200,000 barrels per day" from 12,000 currently. Eni is in talks with other PDVSA partners in Venezuela to migrate contracts from the old legal framework to the new one approved by Venezuela's National Assembly late in January.

Eni's CEO stated that investing in Junin 5,?would yield quick results.

He said that the group was aiming to sign a contract for production sharing and not a joint-venture on the oilfield.

Eni is present in Venezuela since 1998. It has partnered with PDVSA in the Junin 5 Project in the Orinoco which contains 35 billion 'barrels' of certified oil.

Eni has also partnered with Repsol, a Spanish company, for the Cardon IV offshore project. (Reporting and editing by Alvise Armallini, Francesca Landini)

(source: Reuters)