Panamanian gov't to explore oil with Venezuelan firm

PANAMA CITY, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Panamanian government will join hands with Venezuelan firm OTS to explore oil resources in Panama's mountainous Darien Province bordering Colombia, officials said Friday.

The two sides will soon sign a contract to finalize the deal, under which a database will be created to localize oil reserves in Darien in preparations for subsequent exploration activities, Berta Burgos from the Panamanian Energy Ministry told local press.

OTS was founded by former employees of the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. oil comapny.

The contract will be worth 476,765 U.S. dollars, of which 381,420 dollars will be provided by the Inter-American Development Bank, while the rest will be funded by the Panamanian government.

The deal was criticized by local environmentalists who have been urging the Panamanian government to develop clean energy instead of oil.

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