State-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) is to conduct over the next 10 months a feasibility study to exploit natural gas and oil in the Paraguayan sector of Chaco, geologist and Pdvsa quantification manager José Humberto Sánchez said.

Chaco is an arid, scarcely populated area to the northeast of Paraguay, bordering Bolivia, where there are presumably large, profitable deposits of gas and oil.

"We have undertaken studies to focus later on some areas of Chaco basin," Sánchez told reporters.

Pdvsa experts will make a thorough review of the reports on potential hydrocarbons in the Paraguayan subsoil. They will also train local staff for prospecting tasks.

"This is an early stage. Afterwards we would search additional information, that is, technical data or well drilling," Sánchez added.