(The Energy Chamber, 17.Oct.2023) — The Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago warmly welcomes the announcement from the Trinidad & Tobago Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, The Honourable Stuart Young, of the further progress with the development of Dragon field and the granting of an amended license from the […]
Category: Venezuela
Venezuela energy
US State Department: Joint Statement on Venezuela Negotiations
(US Department of State, 17.Oct.2023) — The following statement was released by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs the Honourable MĂ©lanie Joly, and the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign, […]
US Grants License Amendment to Trinidad for Joint Natgas Project with Venezuela
(Reuters, 17.Oct.2023) — The United States has granted an amendment requested by the government of Trinidad and Tobago to a license allowing the joint development of an offshore gas project with Venezuela, the Caribbean country’s Energy Minister Stuart Young said on Tuesday. The amendment would allow payments to Venezuela for any gas supplied […]
T&T Can Pay Cash for Dragon Field Gas
(Trinidad Express, 17.Oct.2023) — Trinidad and Tobago can now make cash payments to VeneÂzuela for the natural gas extracted from the Dragon field, Energy Minister Stuart Young has announced. He also disclosed that the United States government has approved an amendment to the licence granted in January for the joint […]
Trinidad on Amendment to OFAC License [Video]
(TT MEEI, 17.Oct.2023) — The Honourable Stuart R. Young, MP, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister announced that The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, issued an amendment to the license granted to the […]
Venezuelans Return to Negotiations
(US Treasury, 16.Oct.2023) — The United States welcomes the announcement by Nicolas Maduro representatives and the Unitary Platform to resume Venezuelan-led negotiations in Barbados. Along with likeminded partners and other friends of Venezuela, the United States will continue its efforts to unite the international community in support of the Venezuelan-led […]
Venezuela, Opposition Will Restart Talks, US Could Ease Sanctions
(Reuters, 16.Oct.2023) — Venezuela’s government and the country’s opposition will return to political negotiations, the two sides said on Monday, while sources said the United States has reached a preliminary deal to ease sanctions if President Nicolas Maduro follows through on a commitments related to a 2024 election. Maduro’s representatives […]
Oil Dips Below $90 a Barrel as US Agrees Venezuela Deal
(Reuters, 16.Oct.2023) — Oil futures fell on Monday on reports that the U.S. had agreed a deal to ease sanctions on Venezuela, while investors continued to mull the potential impact of the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict on oil prices. Brent futures were down $1.08, or 1.19%, at $89.81 a barrel at […]
US to Ease Sanctions on Venezuelan Oil for Freer Presidential Election
(The Washington Post, 16.Oct.2023) — The Biden administration and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro have agreed to a deal in which the U.S. would ease sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and the authoritarian state would allow a competitive, internationally monitored presidential election next year, according to two people […]
Chevron Readies New Oil Drilling Push in Venezuela to Boost Output
(Reuters, 25.Sep.2023) — Chevron Corp (CVX.N) plans to add 65,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil output by the end of 2024 through its first major drilling campaign in the nation since Washington allowed it to restore production clipped by U.S. sanctions, three people familiar with the matter said. The effort […]
Energy Chamber Welcomes Deal to Work on Dragon Field
(Energy Chamber, 21.Sep.2023) — The Energy Chamber is extremely pleased to hear the news that Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela have signed an agreement to work on the Dragon field in Venezuelan waters. The Energy Chamber congratulates the Government of Trinidad & Tobago for delivering this agreement, and in particular […]
Trinidad and Venezuela Ink Gas-Related Deal
(Energy Analytics Institute, 20.Sep.2023) — The governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela signed a deal related to energy and bilateral trade. “As good neighbors and brothers, we have taken a gigantic step! With the signing of the agreement to work the Dragon field in Venezuelan waters that will lead […]
Maduro Says Venezuela, Trinidad Sign Deal to Share Gas Profits
(Bloomberg, 20.Sep.2023) — President Nicolás Maduro said Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago have signed a profit-sharing agreement to export gas from the PDVSA-owned Dragon offshore project. The project, which was halted in 2020 due to US sanctions, entails using a field in Venezuelan waters to produce natural gas, which would […]
Venezuela: On the Exercise of Hydrocarbon Extraction Activities
(Contributor, Adaelizabeth Omaira Guerrero RodrĂguez, 18.Sep.2023) — The hydrocarbons industry constitutes the main resource of Venezuela, therefore, the study of this area should be the main interest of Venezuelans, in order to be able to make the most accurate decisions on the appropriate legal regime for its exploitation. State control […]
Citgo Petroleum Prices $1.10bn Senior Secured Notes
(Citgo, 14.Sep.2023) — Citgo Petroleum Corporation has priced $1.10bn aggregate principal amount of 8.375% senior secured notes due 2029 in a private offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on 20 September 2023, subject to customary […]
Citgo Valued at $32bn-$40bn Ahead of Auction of Shares
(Reuters, 12.Sep.2023) — Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum has been valued by its parent company at between $32 billion and $40 billion, according to a court official during a hearing in Delaware on Tuesday. The value of the Houston-based refiner was disclosed during the hearing to update a U.S. judge […]
Which Creditors Will Have Priority for Citgo Share Auction?
(Reuters, 12.Sep.2023) — A U.S. judge in Delaware on Tuesday will set the procedure for an upcoming auction of shares in a parent of Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum to satisfy more than $20 billion in claims by creditors. Dozens of companies and bondholders have flocked to U.S. courts to […]
Shell, Trinidad Weigh Venezuela’s Natural Gas Investment Plans
(Reuters, 5.Sep.2023) — Shell (SHEL.L) and Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC) are close to agreeing to credit Venezuela’s state-run oil firm for its $1 billion investment in a gas field the three want to jointly develop, four people close to the discussions said. If agreed, the move could help speed […]
EAI’s NRGBriefs: Aug. 2023
(Energy Analytics Institute, 31.Aug.2023) — Energy briefs as well as others related to finance and projects during August 2023 including Petrobras commenting on divestment process related to the LUBNOR refinery; Petrobras commenting on Sete Brasil; FMC Corporation on revenues in Latin America in the second quarter 2023; Sempra appointing Richard Mark to […]
Exxon Mobil Wants its Piece of Citgo
(USA Today, 17.Aug.2023) — The transnational Exxon Mobil, along with 19 other creditors, registered their claims against Venezuela before a court in the United States, as part of the actions to strip the country of its main asset abroad. The US oil company takes advantage of the actions promoted by […]
Venezuela Rejects Auction That Could Lead to Citgo Breakup
(Reuters, 15.Aug.2023) — Negotiators and officials representing Venezuela are opposing a court-ordered auction of shares in a parent of oil refiner Citgo Petroleum to pay creditors claiming more than $10 billion from expropriations and debt defaults. Some 20 creditors with arbitration awards or lawsuits against Venezuela and its state oil […]
Cuban Oil Tankers Becoming Regular Visitors to Mexican Ports
(Reuters, 10.Aug.2023) — Cuba has begun using its own tankers to ramp up crude imports from Mexico, which in the second quarter surpassed Russia as a key oil provider to the fuel-thirsty island, according to vessel monitoring data. Following days-long lines to fill drivers’ tanks and power blackouts, the communist-run nation saddled […]
EAI’s NRGBriefs: Jul. 2023
(Energy Analytics Institute, 31.Jul.2023) — Energy briefs as well as others related to finance and projects during July 2023 including Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) concluding a sale process and executed a definitive agreement to sell its 50% non-controlling limited partner interest in Cove Point LNG, LP, to Berkshire Hathaway Energy; Vista […]
Who are Venezuela Creditors Seeking to Seize Citgo?
(Reuters, 19.Jul.2023) — The U.S. on Wednesday approved a three-month extension to a license protecting Citgo Petroleum from creditors seeking to seize the oil refiner’s assets. The document comes as a negotiation team representing Venezuela progresses in talks with bondholders and creditors with arbitration awards from expropriation claims, a move to avoid a breakup […]
Machado would restructure debt into single bond
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (Bloomberg, 18.Jul.2023, Words: 218) — Opposition frontrunner MarĂa Corina Machado said she would seek to roll Venezuela’s massive debt pile into a single bond as part of her plan to overhaul the country’s economy. Speaking after a video presentation to economists and investors in New York on Tuesday, Machado said […]
Venezuela’s Opposition Proposes Using Exports Proceeds to Pay Creditors
(Reuters, 7.Jul.2023) — Venezuela’s opposition is crafting a proposal for the country to redirect about 200,000 barrels per day of its oil exports to a trustee to pay creditors with claims on the nation’s foreign assets. Venezuela is battling in U.S. court against bondholders and creditors claiming more than $20 billion from […]
PDV Holding Recovers Citgo Stock Certificate
(PDV Holding, 26.Jun.2023) — PDV Holding, Inc. successfully recovered a stock certificate representing 49.9% of the outstanding shares of stock in its subsidiary CITGO Holding Inc. from an arm of Russian-controlled oil company Rosneft on Wednesday, 21 June 2023. This event brings to a close years of effort to recover […]
Venezuela’s Dictator Maduro is Shameless
(Miami Herald, 16.Jun.2023) — It’s official: The Venezuelan regime will pick a new electoral tribunal to oversee the 2024 presidential elections, and — guess what! — its members will be effectively picked by none other than dictator Nicolás Maduro’s wife. The dictatorship apparently decided to rig next year’s elections ahead of […]
Power Cuts Hit Venezuela’s West
(Reuters, 7.Jun.2023) — Daily power cuts have returned to west-central Venezuela, shutting air conditioners during a heat wave and hitting factories, households and utilities as poorly maintained thermal plants fail to compensate for weak hydroelectric generation, residents, engineers and analysts said. “It is inhumane that in a city like this they […]
Trinidad to Restart Idled LNG Unit by Early 2027
(Reuters, 7.Jun.2023) — Trinidad and Tobago aims to restart an idled liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit by the first quarter of 2027 after agreeing to restructure the facility’s ownership and negotiate new gas supplies, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. Trinidad is Latin America’s largest LNG exporter, but its joint venture […]
PDVSA Bondholders Dismiss Claims Citgo-backed Notes are Invalid
(Reuters, 6.Jun.2023) — Holders of bonds issued by Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela that are backed by a majority stake in refiner Citgo Petroleum urged New York state’s highest court to reject claims that the bonds are invalid. Lawyers for Venezuela’s opposition, which has controlled PDVSA’s U.S. assets including Citgo since 2019 […]
EAI’s NRGBriefs: May 2023
(Energy Analytics Institute, 31.May.2023) — Energy briefs as well as others related to finance and politics during May 2023 including Venezuela planning to issue a license next month to Eni SpA and Repsol SA to export natural gas, Petrobras receiving an arbitration award that fully rejected the claims made by […]
Citgo Reports First Quarter 2023 Results
(Citgo, 10.May.2023) — Citgo Petroleum Corporation reported its 2023 first quarter financial and operational results. Favorable refining margins and product yields combined with strong asset reliability contributed to first quarter net income of $937mn and EBITDA of $1.4bn, compared with net income of $806mn and EBITDA of $1.2bn for the fourth quarter of 2022. Highlights: […]
EAI’s NRGBriefs: Apr. 2023
(Energy Analytics Institute, 30.Apr.2023) — Energy briefs as well as others related to finance and politics during April 2023 including the US not blocking the court-ordered sale of shares of Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s parent company, PDV Holding, to pay off creditors who have sought payment from the Venezuelan state; OFAC authorizing […]
Venezuela Seeks a Deal with Biden as Colombia Summit Begins
(NewsWeek, 25.Apr.2023) — As a multinational conference commences in Colombia, Venezuela is looking to make progress in talks not only with the country’s political opposition, but also the United States, three years after Washington backed efforts to oust President Nicolás Maduro, Newsweek has learned. This includes a proposed deal that could bring […]
NatGas in Transition to Low-Carbon Economies [PDF Download]
(IGU, OLADE, ARPEL, 17.Apr.2023) — The world needs to transition to low-carbon economies to reduce global warming while continuing to promote sustainable socioeconomic development for a growing global population. Achieving this massive goal requires a radical transformation in how energy is supplied and used worldwide, as 73% of global greenhouse […]
Biden to Discuss Venezuela Sanctions with Colombia’s Petro
(Reuters, 19.Apr.2023) — President Joe Biden will discuss Venezuela in wide-ranging talks with Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday, including U.S. willingness to further ease sanctions on the OPEC nation only in return for concrete steps toward free elections there, a senior administration official said. Previewing the leaders’ first meeting, […]
KPMG’s Investment in Venezuela Guide 2022 [PDF Download]
(KPMG, 17.Apr.2023) — The guide is intended as guidance for prospective foreign investors in Venezuela by covering a broad range of matters relating to company law, corporate taxation, employment, foreign investment and foreign exchange, economic regulations and supervised sectors. KPMG hopes information in the guide will be enlightening, however, prior […]
ICJ Delivers Judgement in Guyana v. Venezuela Case
(ICJ, 6.Apr.2023) — On 6 April 2023, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Judgment on the preliminary objection raised by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela). A […]
Border Spat: CIJ Rejects Venezuela’s Objection to Guyana [PDF Download]
(Energy Analytics Institute, 6.Apr.2023) — The court finds that the preliminary objection raised by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is admissible. By fourteen votes to one, the court rejects the preliminary objection raised by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. ____________________ By Ian Silverman. © Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights […]
Venezuela Opposition Envoy Urges Biden to Ease Oil Sanctions
(AP, 3.Apr.2023) — The new representative of Venezuela’s opposition in the U.S. is urging the Biden administration to relax crippling oil sanctions on Nicolas Maduro’s government or risk seeing the socialist-run country turn into another Cuba with Washington scapegoated for increasing authoritarianism and economic hardships. Fernando Blasi’s comments to The […]
Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report [PDF Download]
(The World Bank, 31.Mar.2023) — After a decade of little progress, global gas flaring volumes fell by around 3% in 2022. However, despite this welcome reduction, greater and sustained efforts are needed to end this wasteful and polluting practice. The growing sense of urgency in tackling global gas flaring is […]
Ecopetrol Not Advancing Plans to Buy MonĂłmeros Colombo Venezolanos S.A.
(Ecopetrol, 24.Mar.2023) — Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) informs that, with regards to statements in the public media about a possible acquisition by Ecopetrol of the company MonĂłmeros Colombo Venezolanos S.A., Ecopetrol warns the public that, within the framework of its 2040 strategy and business plan announced to the market, it […]
Citgo Offers to Purchase $407mn in Senior Notes
(Citgo, 13.Mar.2023) — Citgo Holding, Inc., a Delaware corporation, today announced its offer to purchase (the “Offer”) for cash an aggregate principal amount of up to $406.645mn (the “Excess Cash Flow Offer Amount”) of its 9.25% Senior Secured Notes due 2024 (the “Notes”) at a purchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount […]
Citgo Reports 4Q:22 and YE:22 Results
(Citgo, 9.Mar.2023) Citgo Petroleum Corporation today reported its 2022 fourth quarter and year-end financial results. Highlights: Fourth quarter net income of $806mn and EBITDA[1] of $1.2bn Fourth quarter total refinery crude throughput of 797,000 barrels-per-day (bpd), 4% above nameplate capacity of 769,000 bpd Repayment in full of the $1.1bn outstanding under Citgo Petroleum’s […]
The Dragon Dance
(Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 25.Feb.2023) — Energy Minister Stuart Young has again expressed confidence that Trinidad and Tobago (TT) would successfully conclude and execute a deal to receive gas from Venezuela’s Dragon Field, but the challenges before first gas are not to be underestimated. Young gave an update with little […]
Trinidad to Begin Negotiations for Gas Deal with Venezuela in March
(Reuters, 24.Feb.2023) — Trinidad and Tobago expects to formally begin negotiations next month with Venezuela on a promising offshore natural gas project, the Caribbean nation’s energy minister said on Feb. 23. A deal would help revive the nation’s gas production, which contributes a large part of its export revenue and […]
EAI’s NRGBriefs: Feb. 2023
(Energy Analytics Institute, 23.Feb.2023) — Energy briefs as well as others related to finance and politics during February 2023 including Repsol commenting on improvement of prospects for operations in Venezuela; earnings updates and webcasts from Pemex, Noble Corporation, bp, Repsol and TotalEnergies; Venezuela reactivates first drilling rig, the PDVEN-778, in […]
Iran to Start Revamp at Venezuela’s Largest Refining Complex
(Reuters, 6.Feb.2023) — State firms from Iran and Venezuela will start in the coming weeks a 100-day revamp of the South American nation’s largest refining complex to restore its crude distillation capacity, four sources close to the plan said. The effort by state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and […]
Caribbean Seeks Venezuela’s Oil and Gas as U.S. Relaxes Sanctions
(WSJ, 3.Feb.2023) — Caribbean countries battered by high energy costs are turning to Venezuela for oil and gas as the U.S. eases sanctions that have kept its supplies off limits for years. Trinidad and Tobago received a U.S. Treasury Department license in January to develop a Venezuelan gas field. A prospective refinery operator […]