Venezuela says aims to auction Carabobo this year

CARACAS Aug 11 (Reuters) - Venezuela aims to finish the delayed bidding round for the Carabobo oil blocks in the Orinoco heavy crude region by the end of the year, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said in an newspaper interview printed on Tuesday.

Venezuela last month delayed the auction indefinitely as lower oil prices made companies balk at some of the costs associated with developing the blocks.

Last week President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela was in no rush to carry out the auction, but in Tuesday's interview in the El Nacional newspaper, Ramirez said the process was moving forward.

"Our objective is that it happens this year. The companies have continued forming consortiums."

Companies interested in the tender include are Britain's BP (BP.L), U.S.-based Chevron (CVX.N), China's state-owned CNPC, Colombia's Ecopetrol ECO.CN, Italian ENI (ENI.MI) and Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LS).

The Carabobo Project aims to build three upgraders to turn the Orinoco belt's tar-like crude into oil for exports and produce around 200,000 barrels per day, with the initial investment seen between $10 billion and $20 billion per area. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Marguerita Choy)