CARACAS, Nov. 15  -- Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA on Saturday signed an agreement with China's Wison Engineering Company and Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. of the Republic of Korea for building the oil conversion project in the Puerto La Cruz refinery, east of the country.

In accordance with the agreement, Wison and Hyundai are expected to be responsible for construction of basic processing units, the installation of the hydroprocessing sequential unit, which is developed by French company Axens, at the refinery, which will process heavy crude from the Orinoco Oil Belt "Hugo Chavez" in eastern Venezuela upon completion.

Eulogio del Pino, president of PDVSA, said it was important for the country to develop this project as it will help maximizing the use of large proven reserves of extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Oil Belt. "With this agreement we'll stimulate processes to obtain high quality products at high commercial value," he said.

Dong Hua, vice president of Wison Engineering, said his company had launched a joint venture with Hyundai Engineering and Construction over the project, with a funding of 830 million U.S. dollars.

The Orinoco Oil Belt, located south of Guarico, Anzoategui and Monagas in eastern Venezuela, is certified to have the largest oil reserve in the world, with the oil-bearing area exceeding over 55 million square kilometers and the potential of keeping more than 297 billion barrels of oil.