PDVSA mulling force majeure on oil exports -Argus

Instant Max AI

(Reuters, 5.Jun.2018) — Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA is considering a declaration of force majeure on some of its oil supply contracts in June unless its clients agree to accept volume reductions of up to 50 percent, Argus reported on Tuesday, citing PDVSA officials.

PDVSA “in the best case only has about 695,000 (barrels per day (bpd) of crude supply available for export in June,” a PDVSA marketing division executive told Argus. (bit.ly/2Jtt55M)

PDVSA’s tumbling crude production, chronic breakdowns of its heavy crude upgraders and difficulty importing critical light crude and naphtha are progressively reducing the amount of oil available for export, Argus said.

PDVSA is asking its principal clients that are collectively owed 1.5 million bpd of crude in June to accept smaller volumes and restructure existing supply contracts for up to one year, Argus said.

Maintenance will last through the end of June and PDVSA clients that reject new deals with supply haircuts could see all of their Venezuelan supplies suspended until the circumstances obliging PDVSA to declare force majeure are resolved, one of the PDVSA officials told Argus.

PDVSA could not immediately be reached for a comment outside business hours. (Reporting by Rishika Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)

***

Previous post North America’s Energy Future on Trial in Mexico
Next post Pampa Reaches 35-Year Extension in El Mangrullo Block

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.