Planned Venezuela-Russia oilfield capacity raised

CARACAS (Reuters) - The Junin 6 oilfield in Venezuela's Orinoco belt will produce about 400,000 barrels per day -- twice the previous estimates -- from 2012 in a joint venture with Russia, state oil company PDVSA said on Saturday.

The project, which Russia says will cost $30 billion, includes an upgrader to turn the Orinoco region's tarlike oil into a lighter crude suitable for export, PDVSA said in a statement.

Officials signed the deal establishing the joint venture while Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez was in Russia this week. He also bought weapons on the trip, including short-range missiles. [ID:nLA719656]

Junin 6, the largest investment yet in Venezuela's growing relationship with Russia, will have a capacity of between 400,000 bpd and 450,000 bpd.

The Russian side of the joint venture includes Rosneft (ROSN.MM), Gazprom (GAZP.MM), Lukoil (LKOH.MM), TNK-BP TNBPI.RTS and Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM).

Venezuela picked Russia to work on the project without a public tender. It often directly assigns oil blocks as part of Chavez's "oil diplomacy" foreign policy.

Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez has previously said he was impressed by the Russian companies' technology.

Junin 6 will upgrade to high-quality 42 API gravity crude and also include a refining center to make other oil products.

It is 60 percent owned by Venezuela and 40 percent by the Russian consortium and will have a 25-year life, PDVSA said.

(Reporting by Eyanir Chinea; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Xavier Briand)