CNPC, PdVSA, Total in 3-way oil talks

China, Venezuela and French oil firm Total are in advanced negotiations on an oil production and refining deal, Dow Jones reported, citing sources close to the talks. Representatives from Total, Venezuela’s state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) are expected to meet in May to discuss a 20-year agreement to sell 200,000 barrels of oil a day to China beginning in 2013. CNPC is also in discussions with Total involving a joint bid for assets in Venezuela’s Orinico Basin, which Venezuela’s government has offered to foreign investors. Total and CNPC will also partner on a facility to process Venezuelan heavy oil, and CNPC and PdVSA will cooperate on building a refinery in Guangdong. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was recently in Beijing, where talks focused on oil.