Ing. Yekutuel Grunfeld, New Ventures Manager, PDVSA Gas, Ave Francisco de Miranda, Edificio Sucre, Apt Po 61373, Caracas 1070 -- A, Venezuela, Tel: 582-208-6462, Fax: 582-208-6593

B -- FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR SERVING THE NATURAL GAS MARKETS OF ISLA MARGARITA AND CUMANA, VENEZUELA POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (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 for a natural gas pipeline project spanning the Venezuelan cities of Barbacoas to Cumana to Margarita. PDVSA Gas is the Grantee, and plans to implement this project on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis. The study will be comprised of the following tasks: Survey of individual industrial/power units to gather statistical data Identify new and planned industrial zones, investigate the medium size consumers to obtain statistical data as in the first task Survey market in surrounding population areas Prepare a 10-year energy consumption forecast based on industry expansion plans, demographics, expected growth in the tourist trade, etc. Identify new uses/applications for natural gas Participate in a TDA organized business briefing to appraise U.S. industry of the study findings. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $150,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and background definitional mission and desk study reports is available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. 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 their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00pm local (Caracas, Venezuela) time, July 19, 1999 at the above address. 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. Posted 06/04/99 (I-SN339273). (0155)

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