Mr. Vily Frenk Feldman; MARAVEN S.A.; Division de Operaciones de Produccion; Edificio Miranda, Oficina 1-17, Avenida Padilla (C, 93) c/1o de Mayo (Av. 23), Maracaibo, ZU 4001, Venezuela; Phone: 011-58-61-20-7427; Fax: 011-58-61-20-7442

B -- MARAVEN GAS RECOVERY PROJECT POC Carol Stillwell, USTDA, Room 309, SA-16, Washington, D.C. 20523-1602,Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax No.: (703) 875-4009 The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study to evaluate and design systems to recover low pressure natural gas and hydrocarbon gas vapors now being vented or burned during petroleum recovery operations at MARAVEN oil fields. MARAVEN, a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PVDSA), the Venezuelan national petroleum holding company, currently produces about one-third of Venezuela's petroleum. A significant amount of its petroleum production operations concentrate in three principal oil fields in Bachaquero, Lagunillas, and Tia Juana, near Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela. MARAVEN estimates that its current equipment recovers only a fraction of both the gas from its on-shore operations and the hydrocarbon vapor produced from its flow station tanks in Lake Maracaibo. MARAVEN is evaluating two alternative well-site collection systems to improve its efficiency in natural gas recovery: individual compressors on each well head, or a multiple well vacuum and compression system. To improve the efficiency and productivity of its operations in Lake Maracaibo, MARAVEN also intends to install gas recovery systems at the 50 flow stations which treat and pump recovered oil and gas products from off-shore production sites out to the refinery. The study scope of work will include an assessment of current gas recovery and losses, evaluation of current technologies used for gas recovery, and identification and design of new systems for both well-head gas recovery and recovery of gasses at flow stations. The study will include analysis of 500 out of a total of 1000 MARAVEN gas-producing wells and include detailed designs and procurement specifications for the wells. The study will also include development of a financing plan. The study is projected to last three to five months. The total costs of the study has been established at U.S.$475,000. The U.S. firm selected will be paid U.S.$375,000 from a grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) and from a cost-shared contribution of the equivalent of $100,000 from MARAVEN. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission/desk study report are available from TDA, at Room 309, SA-16, Washington, D.C. 20523-1602. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit two copies of their Proposal in Spanish and two copies in English directly to the Grantee in Maracaibo by 4:00 pm, July 2, 1997. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. (0140)

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