(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 18.Sep.2013) – Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. LLC Managing Director David Pursell spoke with Energy Analytics Institute in a brief interview from Dallas, Texas.
What follows are excerpts from the brief interview.
EAI: Are PDVSA’s CITGO assets along the US Gulf Coast strategic?
Pursell: They are strategic because they’re high complexity refineries that can handle the heavy Venezuelan crude grade. Plus, the products they make are going into the U.S., which is the most important refined product market in the world.
EAI: Could PDVSA’s CITGO assets be used as compensation if PDVSA were ordered to pay large lawsuit damages?
Pursell: You could probably take those assets in lieu of payment if ultimately there is a large damage award and the Venezuelans say they’re not going to pay you. The question is who’s going to buy those? If you buy cheap from Venezuela and a court later says we’re going to take them from you. Does this scare away a buyer?
EAI: Will Canadian crudes compete with Venezuelan crudes if the Keystone Pipeline is eventually built?
Pursell: Canadian crude will definitely compete with Venezuelan crude, as both are going to U.S. Gulf Coast.
EAI: How do you view PDVSA today?
Pursell: Venezuela before Chavez had three operating companies that were very good, they were clearly top quartile, Chavez came in, meshed them together and gutted technical expertise for political reasons and now PDVSA is a terrible company. He basically took PDVSA and made it Pemex, inept and not very good.
Editor’s Note:
Pursell holds a Masters in Petroleum Engineering. He has worked on a number of technical petroleum engineering consulting projects in Venezuela.
***