(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 6.May.2018) – Venezuela published its Official Gazette No. 41,389 on 3 May 3 2018 which detailed Decree No. 3398 and the naming of the Board of Directors of state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). Most importantly, the decree ratified Manuel Quevedo as president […]
Category: Latin America and the Caribbean
Bolivia Looks to Build Gas Liquefaction Plant in Ilo
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 5.May.2018) – Bolivia plans to construct a gas liquefaction plant in the Peruvian port of Ilo in order to consolidate LNG exports. The decision, announced by Bolivia’s Hydrocarbon Minister Luis Alberto Sánchez, was made without taking into account certified natural gas reserves or decline rates […]
Venezuela’s oil minister promotes partnerships in the Faja
(PDVSA, 5.May.2018) – People’s Minister of Petroleum and President of Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), Manuel Quevedo, held a strategic meeting with oil business leaders in the Ayacucho Division of the Hugo Chávez Orinoco Oil Belt, as part of the Oil Production Recovery Plan. Vice President of Exploration and Production, […]
Bolivia Shifts Gas Investment Plans Amid Protests
(Efe, 4.May.2018) – Bolivia announced on Friday it was halting plans to spend $683 million on natural gas exploration work in an area of the southern province of Tarija due to environmental protests, saying that money would instead be invested elsewhere in the Andean nation. La Paz said the two […]
Vizcarra Says Peru to Review Contracts, Including Tullow’s
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 4.May.2018) – Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra announced his government plans to review all petroleum exploration contracts awarded in the country. His comments come as artisan fishermen in northern Peru continue to protest decrees that authorized Perupetro to award five petroleum lots, also known as ‘lotes’ […]
Ecopetrol Profit Rises Nearly 200% in First Quarter
(Reuters, 4.May.2018) – Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-run oil company, said on Thursday that its first quarter net profit rose to 2.6 trillion pesos ($923.3 million), up 195 percent from the same period in 2017, thanks to improved efficiencies and higher crude prices. The results were the best first quarter showing in […]
Colombia Oil Reserves up 7% in 2017- Energy Ministry
(Reuters, 3.May.2018) – Colombia said on Wednesday its oil reserves were up 7 percent to 1.78 billion barrels at the end of last year, as exploration, production and investment recovered after the global fall in crude prices. At 2017 production levels the reserves are equivalent to 5.7 years of output, […]
PEMEX Seeks Partners for Seven Onshore areas
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 3.May.2018) – Mexico’s state oil company PEMEX is seeking partners for land grouped into seven onshore areas containing light and super light crude oil as well as wet gas, announced the country’s National Hydrocarbon Commission (CNH by its Spanish acronym). The seven areas are located […]
Bolivia’s YLB and ACI Systems to Build $1.3 Bln Lithium Plant
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 3.May.2018) – Bolivia’s Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) selected ACI Systems GmbH as its partner to create a joint venture company in charge of industrialization of the Bolivia’s lithium, reported the daily La Razón. The companies plan to build a lithium battery plant in Potosí […]
Ecopetrol Provides Update on Emergency in Tumaco
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 2.May.2018) – Colombia’s Ecopetrol published a brief update on emergency operations in Tumaco. In the area there are more than 100 workers, 9 control points (La Espriella, La Cortina, La Chorrera, El Muerto, La Brava, Pueblo Nuevo, Tangarial 1, Dos Quebrados, and Boca de Caunapí), […]
Claire Fitzpatrick, First Female to Lead BPTT
(BPTT, 1.May.2018) – Mrs. Claire Fitzpatrick has been appointed as Regional President of BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT). In this role, Mrs. Fitzpatrick will be accountable for BPTT’s performance and BP’s business interests in Trinidad and Tobago. She is the first female to lead BPTT, which produces approximately 15% of […]
Venezuela’s Oil Sector Glory Days [EAItv]
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 1.May.2018) – A brief look at Venezuela’s oil sector glory days. Will they return?
Echo Energy Sees Favorable Investment Ops in Argentina
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 1.May.2018) – “Argentina offers favourable investment opportunities in the upstream sector. A historical lack of investment means the country is now reliant on imported gas to feed its growing economy. The country is opening itself to foreign investment in a bid to replace reserves and […]
Exxon Defends Guyana Deal Amid Criticism, Seeks Quick Production
(Seeking Alpha, Carl Surran, 1.May.2018) – Exxon Mobil defends its oil production contract with Guyana after the International Monetary Fund recommended the country rewrite its tax laws to increase its share of profitable oil and close out loopholes. “We wouldn’t see any need to renegotiate,” says Erik Oswald, XOM’s VP […]
ECLAC Ssays Venezuela’s Economic Activity to Fall 8.5% in 2018
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 1.May.2018) – The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as ECLAC or CEPAL by its Spanish acronym, projects economic activity in troubled Venezuela will contract 8.5% in 2018. Gross domestic product or (GDP) estimates for other important countries and […]
Bolivian Govt Expects $90 Mln Return from New Gas Well
(Efe, 30.Apr.2018) – A new natural gas well that began production Monday in the southern region of Tarija is expected to contribute $90 million to the public coffers over the next seven years, Bolivian officials said. President Evo Morales traveled to Villamontes, Tarija, for the inauguration of the Sabalo 6 […]
Bolivia, Denmark Invest $193.9 Mln in Santa Cruz Projects
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 30.Apr.2018) – Bolivia and Denmark plan to invest $193.9 million on wind complexes in Warnes, San Julián and El Dorado in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department. Bolivia and Denmark will front $66.8 million and $24 million, respectively, of the total investment. The difference or $103.1 million […]
Venezuela Never Closed Its Doors on T&T Nationals: Lawmaker Says
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 30.Apr.2018) – Venezuelan lawmaker José Brito wrote in a Twitter post that the OPEC country never closed its doors to the hundreds of Trinidadian nationals that left their twin-island nation to seek opportunities in Venezuela. When Trinidad’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley says in regards to […]
Hess Acquires Interest in New Acreage Offshore Guyana
(World Oil, 30.Apr.2018) – Hess Corporation has announced that its subsidiary, Hess Guyana (Block B) Exploration Limited, had reached agreement with Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (ExxonMobil) to acquire a 15% participating interest in the Kaieteur Block, offshore Guyana. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana has provided Hess and ExxonMobil […]
Exxon Mobil: Second Well has no Commercial Quantities of Oil
(Asianet-Pakistan, 28.Apr.2018) – ‘Unfortunately, the well did not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. Exploration wells come with a certain amount of risk and this is particularly true in frontier areas like Guyana. Success is not guaranteed,’ the local office of ExxonMobil said in a statement. The well is the second […]
Pemex Turns $6 Bln Profit On Oil Prices
(Reuters, 27.Apr.2018) – Mexican state-run oil company Pemex said on Friday its net profit rose 29 percent in the first quarter compared with the year-earlier quarter, helped by higher crude prices and currency movements. The company, one of the largest in Latin America, reported a profit of 113.3 billion pesos […]
ConocoPhillips’s Chilean Interests
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 25.Apr.2018) — ConocoPhillips is active in Chile in the Coiron Block in the Magallanes Basin, the company reported in a Fact Sheet updated on its website in March 2018. A short summary of its Chilean interest follows: — Coiron Block: Partners in the block include: […]
ConocoPhillips’s Interest in Colombia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 25.Apr.2018) — ConocoPhillips is active in Colombia in the Middle Magdalena Basin at VMM-3 and VMM-2, where it serves as operator at both blocks, the company reported in a Fact Sheet updated on its website in March 2018. A short summary of its Colombian interests […]
Favorable Terms To Help Guyana Prove Potential
(Rystad, 19.Apr.2018) — Rystad Energy analysis shows that Guyana’s fiscal regime is favorable to oil companies when compared to mature oil and gas development countries but is in line when compared with other countries of equivalent maturity. The International Monetary Fund, quoted early last week by Reuters, argued that the […]
Golar Power Closing on 1.5GW Sergipe Power Project
(Golar LNG, 19.Apr.2018) — Golar LNG Limited announce that Golar Power Limited, a joint venture with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, has reached financial closing on the 1.5GW Porto de Sergipe I Power Project (Sergipe TPP). Located in Sergipe, NNE of Brazil, the Project will be the largest and most efficient thermoelectric […]
Ghana Trade Mission Breakfast: Claxton Bay, Trinidad
(The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, 19.Apr.2018) – The Sekondi Takoradi Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) will be part of an incoming Trade Mission to Trinidad from April 23rd – 28th, 2018. The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago is organising a […]
EPM Installs Colombia’s ‘First’ Floating PV Project
(PV-Tech, Tom Kenning, 18.Apr.2018) – Colombian utility EPM has installed what it claims to be the country’s first floating solar plant, standing at 100kW at the El Peñol reservoir. The pilot project will test the technology and its fundamentals in comparison to ground-mount and rooftop systems. For this purpose, traditional […]
Colombia March Crude Output up 6.5% vs Year Ago
(Reuters, 17.Apr.2018) – Crude oil production in Colombia reached an average of 856,478 barrels per day (bpd) in March, the Mines and Energy Ministry said on Monday, up 6.5 percent compared with the same month a year ago. Natural gas production for March totaled 937.4 million cubic feet per day, […]
Total President Says Output At One Venezuela Field Down 33%
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 22.Apr.2018) – Patrick Pouyanne, the Chief Executive Officer of French major Total, announced production at one of its oil fields in Venezuela was down to 80,000 barrels per day (b/d) from 120,000 b/d. Pouyanne made the comments during an oil summit in Paris, reported Oil […]
Ecopetrol Reports Highest Net Income in Last 4 Years
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 15.Apr.2018) ‐- During the first three months of 2018, Ecopetrol reported its highest quarterly net income in the last four years. Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol announced its net income rose 195% in the first quarter of 2018 to COL$2,625 billion Colombian pesos compared to […]
Chile and Argentina to Boost Gas, Oil Output
(Santiago Times, 6.Apr.2018) – The state-run energy firms of Chile and Argentina have inaugurated a US$ 354 million project to increase production of natural gas off the southern tip of South America. The project, east of Magellan Strait, operated by Chile’s state-run ENAP in partnership with YPF, will boost production […]
Colombia’s Attorney General to Investigate Ecopetrol Oil Spill
(Reuters, 3.Apr.2018) – Colombia’s attorney general’s office on Monday launched an investigation to determine whether officials from state-run oil company Ecopetrol could be held criminally responsible for a oil spill of 550 barrels in Santander province. The Lisama 158 well, which was in the process of being shut down because […]
TGS To Build Vaca Muerta Gas Pipeline, Conditioning Plant
(Reuters, 3.Apr.2018) — Argentine natural gas company Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) will invest an initial $250 million on gas transportation infrastructure in 2018 and 2019 in the Vaca Muerta shale fields, the company said on Tuesday. TGS said in a filing it would build a 92-kilometer (57-mile) gathering […]
TGS to Invest $250 Mln in Infrastructure to Transport Vaca Muerta Gas Production
(Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A., 3.Apr.2018) — Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. (TGS) executed an agreed minute with the Undersecretary of Energy, Mining and Hydrocarbons of the Province of Neuquén and Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén S.A. (GyP), whereby TGS is granted a concession to build and operate […]
Frontera Energy to Double Investment in Colombia, Peru
(Reuters, 2.Apr.2018) – Canada’s Frontera Energy Corp named a new chief executive on Monday, and said it plans to more than double its investment in operations in Colombia and Peru during 2018, to up to $500 million. Frontera will direct between $225 million and $240 million of investment to new […]
Sapura, Partners Awarded Mexico’s Block 30
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 1.Apr.2018) – The consortium, comprised of three companies, was awarded a block in the southeastern basin of the Gulf of Mexico. “This is a formidable partnership of like-minded companies with significant worldwide experience, which augurs well for future success in Mexico,” said Sapura Energy Berhad […]
PDVSA Refining VP Blanco Visits Puerto La Cruz Refinery
(Energy Analytics Institute, 28.Mar.2018) – PDVSA Refining Vice President Guillermo Blanco visited the operational areas of Puerto La Cruz Refinery (RPLC), located in northern Anzoátegui state, reported PDVSA in an official statement. General Manager Johnnyel Ramos guided Blanco and External Director Yurbis Gómez around RPLC. The RPLC is one of […]
PetroChina, Rosneft Leave Venezuela Refining Projects
(Kallanish Energy, 28.Mar.2018) – Chinese and Russian state oil companies PetroChina and Rosneft will not pay the costs of repairing and modernizing Venezuela’s Cardón and Amuay refineries for PDVSA, according to union sources. Ivan Freites, senior official of the Venezuelan Unions Federation of Oil Workers, told local newspaper El Nacional […]
Venezuela Tries To Pay Russian Debt With Cryptocurrency
(Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com, 28.Mar.2018) – If crisis-hit Venezuela was hoping to pay off its US$3.15-billion debt to Russia with its new cryptocurrency, those hopes have been shattered as the Russian Finance Ministry announces that it won’t be accepting digital coin. Venezuela will not be paying any part of its debt […]
Venezuela’s Refining Capacity Impresses But Utilization Tells Story
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 27.Mar.2018) – Venezuela’s PDVSA owns six domestic refineries with a combined processing capacity of 1,303 thousand barrels per day (Mb/d), according to data from the state oil entity. A quick summary of the refineries follows: Refinery ————- Capacity (Mb/d) —- % of Total Amuay […]
Officials from Trinidad and Venezuela Discuss Gas Deals
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 27.Mar.2018) – Delegations from Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela meet in Caracas to review progress related to gas agreements between both nations, reported PDVSA in an official statement. The delegations reviewed the progress of agreements to finalize construction, operation and maintenance of a gas pipeline […]
Mexico Awards Blocks In Final Oil Auction Before Election
(Reuters, David Alire Garcia & Marianna Parraga, 27.Mar.2018) — Mexico awarded just under half of the 35 shallow-water blocks it tendered on Tuesday, in an auction muddied by the promises of the presidential frontrunner to review contracts awarded under a historic energy opening if he wins the July 1 election. […]
Argentina to Develop Tight Shale Oil, Gas
(OGJ, Nick Snow, 27.Mar.2018) — With the largest shale gas resources and tight oil deposits second only to those of the US in the Western Hemisphere, Argentina is trying to attract more foreign investments by continuing to improve government policies, speakers said during a Mar. 27 discussion at the Inter-American […]
Pemex Signs Shale Contract With Lewis Energy
(Reuters, 26.Mar.2018) — Mexican state oil company Pemex said on Monday it had signed a contract with U.S. firm Lewis Energy for the exploration and extraction of a shale gas deposit in the north of the country, in the Eagle Ford formation. Pemex said it expected the contract, in the […]
Expert Urges Faster Global Transition to Clean Energy
(Efe, 23.Mar.2018) – The world must accelerate its transition from a carbon-based to a clean energy-based economy to put the brakes on a climate catastrophe that already causes 4.8 million deaths annually, the director of an organization that aims to facilitate understanding of global climate change said Friday at a […]
Expert from UG Not Sanguine About ‘Up Front’ Cash
(Stabroek News, 23.Mar.2018) – “While the front-loading of contracts and the securing of large contracts might be politically popular it might prove to be economically disastrous, University of Guyana Business Professor Leyland Lucas has said in an article that seeks, in part, to respond to the popular argument touting the […]
Guyana: The Oil Contract Debate
(By Lakhram Bhagirat and Leyland M. Lucas, Stabroek News, 23.Mar.2018) – In the late 1990s, Guyana signed an Oil and Gas exploration agreement with Exxon’s subsidiary, EEPGL. That agreement not only permitted significant activity by Exxon, but also provided Guyana with a small subsumed royalty of no more than 1%. […]
PDVSA to Shut Three of Four Refineries Indefinitely: Platts
(Platts, 22.Mar.2018) – PDVSA is planning to close three of its four large refineries in Venezuela indefinitely due to of lack of crude to process and because the state company does not have enough staff to operate the plants, union sources said Thursday. Refineries: Venezuela’s Cardon, Puerto La Cruz and […]
Jamaica, Venezuelan Officials Discuss Bilateral Issues
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 22.Mar.2018) – Jamaica’s Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith and her Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza held a high-level bilateral meeting in Caracas regarding ways to strengthen energy cooperation through the Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement, reported PDVSA in an official statement. Both officials also reaffirmed their country’s willingness […]
Oil Workers Protest at PDVSA HQs In Caracas
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 22.Mar.2018) – Workers at PDVSA’s headquarters in Caracas, La Campiña, participated in protest today inside the company’s main building, reported the daily El Nacional, citing a local reporter, Ramon Camacho. During the protest, the workers demanded that PDVSA make due on all late payments to […]