(The New York Times, Clifford Krauss, 20.Aug.2018) – More than a decade ago, Venezuela seized several oil projects from the American oil company ConocoPhillips without compensation. Now, under pressure after ConocoPhillips carried out its own seizures, the Venezuelans are going to make amends. ConocoPhillips announced on Monday that the state […]
Author: ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE (EAI)
Energy Analytics Institute (EAI), formerly LatinPetroleum.com, is a Houston-established private organization with a satellite presence in Calgary, Mexico City and Venezuela where it operates under Editores LatinPetroleum SA. Since 1999, EAI has been a leader in energy news coverage of Latin America in particular. Coverage, run out of Latin America, now spans the world and encompasses nearly all energy and energy-related sectors.
Oceaneering Subsidiary Secures Contract with Petrobras
(Oceaneering International, Inc., 20.Aug.2018) – Marine Production Systems do Brasil Ltda., one of Oceaneering International, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiaries, has secured a four-year contract with a one-year optional extension period from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) in Brazil. “We are excited by this Petrobras award and the opportunity to expand our […]
GeoPark Announces New Jauke Gas Field Discovery in Chile
(GeoPark, 20.Aug.2018) — GeoPark Limited announced the successful drilling and testing of the Jauke 1 exploration well in the Fell block (GeoPark operated, 100% WI) in Chile. “This discovery illustrates the hydrocarbon-generating capacity of GeoPark’s unique Latin American multi-country platform,” said GeoPark Chief Executive Officer James F. Park. GeoPark drilled […]
Pemex Advances Digital Changes to Boost Competition
(Pemex, 20.Aug.2018) – Pemex commenced its Digital Week, so personnel could be trained with the new technological tools developed by the Corporate Department of Informational Technology (DCTI) to improve work strategies, as they are integrated through all the areas to become more efficient in the state-owned petroleum company. At the […]
Frontera Confirms Discovery at Acorazado-1 Well in Colombia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 19.Aug.2018) – Canada’s Frontera Energy Corporation confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons in the Mirador reservoir in the Acorazado-1 exploration well in Colombia. The well is located on the 100% owned and operated Llanos 25 block onshore Colombia. As a result, the well is being cased […]
Rafael Ramírez Says Maduro Destroyed PDVSA
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 19.Aug.2018) – Former PDVSA President Rafael Ramírez says Venezuela produced 3 million barrels per day until December 2013. That figure has dropped by 1.8 million, according to his statements. “When we were in the revolutionary government of Comandante Chávez, we had fiscal balance and enough […]
Frontera to Plug, Abandon Delfin Sur-1 Exploration Well
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 18.Aug.2018) – Frontera Energy Corporation declared the Delfin Sur-1 exploration well offshore Peru non-commmercial. On August 12, 2018, the company completed drilling the well, located on the Z-1 block offshore. The well was drilled to a total measured depth of 7,228 feet in the Heath […]
Four Cos. to Invest $727 Mln in Ecuador
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 18.Aug.2018) – Ecuador announced four companies would invest $727.85 million to boost production in a number of fields. The companies – Triboilgas Cía. Ltda, Vinccler C.A, Arotekh C.A. and Avanzia – plan the investments in the Cuyabeno/Sansahuari, Oso, Yuralpa and Blanca/Vinita fields located in provinces […]
Cure for Venezuela’s Mercantilism, Rentism Disease
(EnergyNomics, Carlos A Rossi, 18.Aug.2018) – Are natural resource endowed countries victims of their own wealth? Is there a richness threshold beyond which the institutions designed to protect a country’s citizens turn against them and become their worst enemy by annihilating their productive apparatus riddling it with the miseries of […]
Panama, US To Sign Pact To Expand Access To LNG
(Reuters, David Lawder, 17.Aug.2018) – Panama on Friday will sign an agreement with the U.S. Treasury and Energy departments aimed at paving the way for more private investment to expand the importation and distribution of U.S. liquefied natural gas in Latin America. David Malpass, Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, said […]
Shell Oil Traders Trade One Caribbean Paradise For Another
(Reuters, Julia Payne, 17.Aug.2018) – Royal Dutch Shell’s oil traders in the Caribbean island of Barbados are getting ready for a tough gig – they’re being moved to the Bahamas next month. The relocation of the oil and gas company’s trading hub for Latin America will make travel to customers […]
Former PDVSA Director Detained in Argentina
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 17.Aug.2018) – A former PDVSA director has been detained and accused of money laundering. Luis Abraham Bastidas Ramírez, the cousin of former PDVSA President Rafael Ramírez, was detained in Argentina, wrote reporter Dean Rojas in a tweet on his personal twitter account. Ramírez’s capture was […]
PentaNova Energy Updates on SINU-9 Farm Out
(PentaNova Energy Corp., 17.Aug.2018) — PentaNova Energy Corp. announced the SINU-9 Farm Out Agreement with Panacol Oil & Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of LATAM Oil & Gas failed to close by the agreed closing date. Extensions to the closing dates were given, but Panacol was unable to complete the […]
Jusepin Oil Region in Venezuela: 45 Seconds of Fame
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 17.Aug.2018) – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado tours the Jusepin petroleum region in Venezuela. https://twitter.com/i/status/1030477377988710401 Jusepin is just one of many petroleum-rich areas in Venezuela, the country with the world’s largest oil reserves. ***
Venezuelan Oil Assets to be Seized by Creditors
(Express, Simon Osborne, 16.Aug.2018) – Venezuela’s oil assets are being targeted by angry creditors after a US court granted a Canadian mining company permission to send in the bailiffs. Firms owed billions by the beleaguered South American country and its state-owned oil firm PDVSA are now lining up to make […]
U.S.’s Perry Applauds Mexico’s Plan to End Fuel Imports
(Reuters, David Alire Garcia, 16.Aug.2018) – U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry praised the goal set out by Mexico’s incoming president to end massive gasoline and diesel imports, nearly all of which come from the United States, as a measure that will boost prosperity in its southern neighbor. During a visit […]
PentaNova Tiburon Phase Suspended Due to Force Majeure
(PentaNova Energy Corp., 16.Aug.2018) — PentaNova Energy Corp. says the Tiburon E&P Contract is currently in Phase 3 of the exploration period with an existing minimum work obligation to acquire 200 km of 2D seismic, which can be replaced with an equivalent minimum commitment to acquire 69.75 km2 of 3D […]
Pemex Ethylene, PE Output Unaffected by Pipeline Incident
(Platts, 16.Aug.2018) — State-owned Pemex’s ethylene and polyethylene production facilities ran normally even as a pipeline incident led fellow Mexican polymer producer Braskem Idesa to institute a temporary shutdown of operations, company sources said Thursday. The incident occurred last week and resulted in the shutdown of two Pemex gas processing […]
Ecopetrol Cuts Planned 2018 Spending To $3-$3.5 Bln
(Reuters, Nelson Bocanegra & Julia Symmes Cobb, 15.Aug.2018) – Colombia’s state-run oil company Ecopetrol said it will invest $3 billion to $3.5 billion during 2018, less than previously estimated, because of spending delays and protests which closed three fields during the first quarter. Ecopetrol originally planned to invest $3.5 billion […]
Guyana to Become 5th Largest Oil Producer in LAC Region
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 15.Aug.2018) – If all goes off as planned, by 2025, Guyana will be the 5th largest oil producer in the Latin American and Caribbean region. That’s according to an analysis of data posted by Trading Economics, and extrapolation of estimates of Guyana’s future oil production, […]
PDVSA Leaves Argentine Gas Station to Fend for Itself
(Reuters, Luc Cohen, 15.Aug.2018) – As Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA saw its finances devastated by low oil prices and mismanagement, it funneled millions of dollars to Petrolera del Conosur (PSUR.BA), a loss-making Argentine gas station operator it controls. PDVSA decided to cut off the support payments late last year, […]
Ecopetrol Reports Higher Sales, EBITDA in 2Q:18
(Ecopetrol, 14.Aug.2018) – Ecopetrol S.A. announced the Business Group’s financial results for the second quarter and the first half of 2018, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards applicable in Colombia. The figures included in this report are unaudited. Financial information is expressed in billions of Colombian pesos (COP), […]
Webinar Panelist Discuss All Things Guyana
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 15.Aug.2018) – The three promised to return to discuss all things Guyana again in six months as the small South American country eyes first oil in 2020. A three person panel — comprised of Guyana’s Minister of Finance, the Honourable Winston Jordan, Trinidad and Tobago’s […]
Colombia Says Odebrecht Bribes Larger Than Previously Known
(Bloomberg, Ezra Fieser, 15.Aug.2018) – Odebrecht SA, the Brazilian construction giant, paid at least $32.5 million in bribes in Colombia — three times the amount it confessed to almost two years ago when it admitted to carrying out one of the largest graft schemes in corporate history, Colombia’s attorney general […]
Pampa Energía Announces Merger Completion
(Pampa Energía S.A., 15.Aug.2018) – Pampa Energía S.A. fully executed the swap of Pampa’s shares for the minority holdings of Petrolera Pampa S.A., Central Térmica Güemes S.A., Inversora Nihuiles S.A. and Inversora Diamante S.A., duly communicated on August 10, 2018. As a result, the issued capital stock of Pampa increased […]
$123.5b from Upstream from 2010 to 2016 — TTEITI
(Trinidad Express, Anthony Wilson, 15.Aug.2018) – Upstream energy companies operating in T&T paid $123.5 billion to the Government between 2010 and 2016, according to data compiled by the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI). The organisation provided the information in a written response to the Express Business editorial […]
Venezuela Petrol Prices Need to Rise to Stop Smuggling
(Reuters, Deisy Buitrago and Brian Ellsworth, 14.Aug.2018) – Venezuela’s heavily subsidised domestic gasoline prices should rise to international levels to avoid billions of dollars in annual losses due to fuel smuggling, president Nicolas Maduro has said. “Gasoline must be sold at an international price to stop smuggling to Colombia and […]
Mexico’s Struggling Pemex Awaits New President’s Risky Fix
(Bloomberg, Amy Stillman, 14.Aug.2018) – By most financial measures, Mexico’s state oil company is seriously unwell. The country’s new leader is promising to revive it. But the treatment could end up killing the patient. After borrowing more than $100 billion, Petroleos Mexicanos is one of the world’s most indebted oil […]
OPEC MOMR Shows Further Oil Declines in Venezuela
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 14.Aug.2018) – Venezuela’s crude oil production declines seem unstoppable. Venezuela’s crude oil production fell to 1.278 million barrels per day (MMb/d) in July 2018 compared to 1.325 MMb/d in June 2018 based on secondary sources, reported OPEC in its August Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR). […]
Whither Guyana?
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 14.Aug.2018) – On a per capita basis, Guyana is already probably the most resource-rich country on the planet, but is still the poorest English-speaking country, and the 2nd poorest overall after Haiti, writes an Caribbean region economist. As the size of oil discoveries in […]
Technology, New Innovations and the LatAm Energy Sector
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 14.Aug.2018) – The ability to use hydraulic fracturing to tap shale formations, to remotely monitor and manage assets, and use advanced technology to heat reservoirs, are a few of the many new innovations used in the capital intense hydrocarbon sector. Faced with rising competition […]
Mexico’s Fuel Plan Won’t Immediately Impact Texas
(Texas Tribune, Juan Luis García Hernández, 14.Aug.2018) – After a dramatic spike in gasoline prices incited widespread protests in Mexico last year, then-presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador made a promise that caught the attention of Texas officials and the state’s oil and gas industry: The veteran left-wing politician vowed, […]
AMLO Pledges More Than $11 Bln for Refineries
(Reuters, 13.Aug.2018) – Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday his administration will invest more than $11 billion to boost refining capacity in order to curb growing fuel imports. Lopez Obrador, who will take office on Dec. 1, told reporters his government plans to invest $2.6 billion to […]
Venezuela Petrol To Rise to Int’l Levels
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 13.Aug.2018) — The price of Venezuela’s subsidized petrol, long one of the cheapest in world, is set to rise. Effective August 20, 2018, the price of Venezuela’s petrol will cost the same as in international markets, reported PDVSA in an official statement, citing comments from […]
Andrade Calls Out to Duque Over Odebrecht Case
(TheAndradeStory.com, 13.Aug.2018 – On Thursday (8/9) afternoon, the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia announced two new charges against the former head of the National Infrastructure Agency (“ANI”), Luis F. Andrade. These are in addition to eight previous charges placed against him last year related to the Odebrecht corruption […]
SeaOne Caribbean Fuel Project Recognized as Strategic
(SeaOne Caribbean, 13.Aug.2018) – SeaOne Caribbean, LLC, which is developing the Caribbean and Central American Fuels Supply Project for natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGLs) delivery, announced that CG/LA Infrastructure has recognized SeaOne’s project as the region’s Top Strategic Infrastructure Project for 2018. The award was handed out at […]
Argentina’s Pampa Energía Reports 1H:18 Results
(Pampa Energía S.A., 13.Aug.2018) – Pampa Energía S.A. reported results for the six-month period and quarter ended on June 30, 2018. All figures are stated in Argentine Pesos and have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. Main Results for the First Semester of 2018 (1) In order […]
CNEL EP Names Veintimilla General Manager
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 13.Aug.2018) – The National Electricity Corporation (CNEL EP) named Wilfrido Demetrio Veintimilla Terreros, a professional with 41 years of experience in the electricity sector, as its new General Manager. The decision was revealed on August 13, 2018 by the Board of Directors of the company, […]
Venezuela’s Citgo Refineries At Risk Of Seizure
(Forbes, Robert Rapie, 12.Aug.2018) – In 2007, following Venezuela’s expropriation of billions of dollars of assets from U.S. companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, I suggested a potential remedy. Since Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.) owns the Citgo refineries in the U.S., I felt the companies that […]
Is Venezuelan Oil Output Falling Faster Than Expected?
(OilPrice.com, Nick Cunningham, 12.Aug.2018) – The bad news from Venezuela continues. In July, Venezuela’s oil production came in lower than PDVSA had targeted, according to Argus Media. While PDVSA had hoped that it, along with its joint venture partners, would produce as much as 1.65 million barrels per day (mb/d) […]
Citgo Petroleum Company Profile
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 11.Aug2018) – Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation is the refining arm of Venezuela’s Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). What follows is a brief company profile. Citgo, a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Houston, refines, markets, and transports gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemicals, and other […]
Companies to Invest Nearly $900 Mln in Iñiguazu
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 12.Aug2018) – In Caraparí, in southern Bolivia, a law was enacted that paves the way for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in Iñiguazu. Passage of the law is expected to attract investments of close to $900 million, reported the daily newspaper La Razón. […]
World Bank Says Oil To Average $65 in 2019
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 12.Aug2018) – The World Bank expects the price of oil to average $65 per barrel in 2019. “Oil prices are expected to average $65 per barrel in 2019. While projections indicate that prices will fall from their April 2018 level, they should be supported by […]
Crystallex Cuts Others In Line for Citgo Assets
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 11.Aug.2018) – Crystallex seems to have cut in line while there are many others already in line for CITGO assets and value. What follows are comments published by Venezuelan oil analyst Francisco Monaldi in a series of tweets related to the legal battle over CITGO: […]
Two Companies to Ship Fuels from US to Mexico
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 11.Aug.2018) – To-date, two oil companies are working to export fuels from the U.S.A. to neighboring Mexico, through the Port of Brownsville. “Our main client is P.M.I. Comercio Internacional, a subsidiary of Pemex, that’s dedicated to the import and export of hydrocarbons,” reported the daily […]
Crystallex Wins Right To Tap Citgo For Compensation
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav, 10.Aug.2018) – Canadian gold miner Crystallex was ruled the winner in a long-running case against Venezuela, which it has sued for the forced nationalization of its assets by the Hugo Chavez government. A U.S. federal judge this week awarded the miner the right to approach Venezuela’s U.S. […]
PDVSA President Says Venezuela Production Stabilized
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 10.Aug.2018) – PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo assured that Venezuelan crude oil production had stabilized. Quevedo, who also serves as Venezuela’s Petroleum Minister, said last week that “our production is approximately 1.5 million barrels a day for the first half of 2018.” Those remarks were made […]
PDVSA Cut Debt to Rosneft $400 Mln in Q2
(Neftegaz.RU, 10.Aug.2018) – According to Platts, Venezuela’s state oil and gas company PDVSA cut its debt to Russia’s top crude producer Rosneft by $400 million in the 2nd quarter to $3.6 billion as of the end of June, Rosneft’s 2nd-quarter results presentation showed this week. Rosneft agreed prepayment deals for […]
Venezuela Facing Compounding Oil Woes
(UPI, Daniel J. Graeber, 10.Aug.2018) – Though it holds the largest reserves of oil in the world, production levels put it only in the middle of the pack among OPEC member states. Venezuelan plans to stabilize crude oil production do little to address bottlenecks and the shortage of investments, an […]