Russia and Venezuela have signed an agreement worth US$15 million (€11.5 million) to cooperate in developing Venezuela's natural gas resources, Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, announced Tuesday.

The pact, which initially covers a period of one year, includes an assessment of Venezuela's natural gas industry and the development of a plan to improve its efficiency.

Venezuela hopes to consolidate its system to transport and distribute natural gas with the agreement, PDVSA said in a statement.

Felix Rodriguez, president of PDVSA GAS, said his company hopes to incorporate the experience of Russian state company GAZPROM through a project that "will allow us to increase production and improve our ability to respond to contingencies."

Venezuela has 147.5 billion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, according to official estimates. This would give it the eighth largest reserves in the world and the largest in Latin America.