PDVSA prepares ground for large natural gas project

CARACAS, July 9 (Reuters) - Venezuela is edging closer to developing its large Mariscal Sucre oil field, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said, having pre-selected a group of private partners for planned joint ventures.

In June, PDVSA invited a group of companies, including Japan's Marubeni (8002.T), Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Itochu, Norway's Statoil (STL.OL), Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI (ENI.MI) to consider taking part in the project.

Ramirez told Reuters the companies are expected to cover the $800 million Venezuela is spending exploring the field, which state-oil firm PDVSA believes holds 14.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. They will also be charged a premium to participate.

"It is a premium that gives the right to access the gas reserves. We are going to use this mechanism," Ramirez said in an interview on Tuesday. He did not say how large the premium would be.

PDVSA has not specified how it will select its finals partners for Mariscal Sucre, but predicts the investments in projects at the field will reach $8.4 billion between 2009-2015.

PDVSA forecasts that the field will produce 1.2 billion cubic feet per day.

(Reporting by Marianna Parragal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)