(Al Jazeera, 28.May.2020) â Venezuela’s president hints that he could start charging for petrol, which is usually practically free for citizens. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday his government must begin charging more for petrol and said he had directed a team of specialists to determine what the price […]
Category: Venezuela
Venezuela energy
Q&A: PdV Exile Board Has âLeversâ To Keep Citgo
(Argus, 28.May.2020) â Luis Pacheco is chairman of a parallel board trying to exert control over the future of Venezuela’s state-owned PdV. Appointed by the National Assembly led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, Pacheco and other key members of Guaido’s team are fighting to keep the company’s US refining arm […]
Op-Ed: My Love Affair With Tulsa University
(Gustavo Coronel, 27.May2020) â An April morning in 1951, I left New York City for Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had been studying English for 15 weeks at Queens College before going on to The University of Tulsa to study geology. I had traveled to New York City from Los Teques, Venezuela, […]
Maduro Sends Iranian Oil To Cuba
(Panam Post, 27.May.2020) â A Cuban vessel arrived in Venezuela to allegedly provide the island gasoline that has just arrived from Iran. According to the Marine Traffic portal, this is the Petion ship, which sails under the Panamanian flag and departed from Cuba on May 21. It arrived this Monday […]
Maduro Vows To Raise Venezuelan Gasoline Price
(Reuters, 27.May.2020) â Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday pledged to begin charging citizens for gasoline, as the fourth cargo of a five-tanker flotilla bringing fuel from Iran approached the South American nationâs exclusive economic zone. Iran is providing the country with up to 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and […]
Third Iranian Fuel Cargo Approaches Venezuela
(Reuters, 26.May.2020) â The third cargo of an Iranian tanker flotilla carrying fuel for gasoline-thirsty Venezuela was approaching the nationâs exclusive economic zone on Tuesday as the previous two were preparing to discharge, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. The Iran-flagged tanker Petunia entered the Caribbean Sea on Monday after crossing […]
Second Iranian tanker Forest reaches Venezuelan loading dock
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (Piero Stewart, Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 26.May.2020, Words: 76) â The Iranian tanker Forest docked at the Cardon refinery located in the ParaguanĂĄ Refining Complex (CRP) located in FalcĂłn state in western Venezuela, according to details posted by RT correspondent Erika Ortega Sanoja. A total of five […]
Iranian Tanker Fortune Docks In Puerto Cabello
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 25.May.2020) â The Fortune Iranian fuel tanker reached Pier 4 of PDVSAâs El Palito Refinery located in Puerto Cabello in Carabobo state, announced Venezuelaâs Economy Vice President Tareck El Aissami. The shipâs crew was welcomed by the Venezuelan official together with Iranâs Ambassador in Venezuela, […]
Iranian Tanker Fortune Reaches Venezuela Waters
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 25.May.2020) â The first of five Iranian tankers carrying gasoline and fuel additives, Fortune, has made it to Venezuelaâs Exclusive Economy Zone. The five tanker are carrying an estimated 1.5 million barrels of fuel. Venezuela’s Oil Minister and Economy Vice President Tareck El Aissami, announced […]
First Iranian Tanker Reaches El Palito Refinery
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 25.May.2020) â The first of five Iranian tankers carrying gasoline and additives for making fuel from Iran to Venezuela has reached the Caribbean countryâs shores. The first tanker Fortune has reached El Palito Refinery, according to a Twitter post by Venezuelaâs Economy Vice President Tareck […]
Maduro Thanks Iran For Tanker Shipments
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 24.May.2020) â Venezuelaâs President NicolĂĄs Maduro announced gratitude to the Iran Republic for the shipments of gasoline and fuel additives that began to arrive to the OPEC country. âThe Fortune tanker arrived in Venezuela, the first of five ships that brings gasoline and supplies to […]
PdVâs Board Of Exiles Loses Two Technocrats
(Argus, 21.May.2020) â Two members of the parallel board of Venezuela’s national oil company PdV have resigned, a development that exposes brewing frustration in the exiled technical ranks of US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido. In a letter dated and made public today, the “ad hoc” board of the state-owned company […]
US Seeks Ways To Halt Iranâs Oil Sales To Venezuela
(Wall Street Journal, 20.May.2020) â The Trump administration is weighing new sanctions and other legal steps to disrupt Iranian oil exports to Venezuela, U.S. officials said, in response to what the U.S. considers the Islamic Republicâs attempts to make inroads into Latin America. The possibility of new U.S. sanctions and […]
PdV Restarts Coker For Export Via Cuba
(Argus, 20.May.2020) â State-owned PdV has partially restarted a 70,000 b/d delayed coker which had been off line for over a year at its 305,000 b/d Cardon refinery, three PdV and oil union officials said. Once the coking unit operations have stabilized, PdV plans to ship the coke to Cuban […]
Iranâs Oil Supply To Venezuela Eases Glut
(Argus, 19.May.2020) â Iran’s gasoline shipments to Venezuela are helping to ease a supply glut at home, where demand has collapsed because of strict measures to check the Covid-19 pandemic. The shipments and Tehran’s parallel support for Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s effort to repair its refining system have the added effect […]
US Court Declines To Hear Appeal In Crystallex Case
(Reuters, 18.May.2020) â The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Venezuela’s appeal of a lower court ruling allowing Canadian gold mining company Crystallex to seize shares in U.S. refiner Citgo to collect on an unpaid arbitration award. That meant a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from […]
Five Iran Tankers Sailing For Venezuela
(AP, 18.May.2020) â Five Iranian tankers likely carrying at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products are now sailing to Venezuela, part of a wider deal between the two U.S.-sanctioned nations amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The tankers’ voyage came after Venezuela’s socialist leader NicolĂĄs Maduro […]
Venezuela Spurned By US Court In Citgo Clash
(Bloomberg, 18.May.2020) â The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Venezuela in its fight to retain control of oil refiner Citgo Holding Inc., putting the country a step closer to losing its largest asset. The justices, without comment on Monday, left intact a federal appeals court victory for a […]
PdV Keeps Nynas Board Seat After Restructuring
(Argus, 13.May.2020) â Venezuela’s state-owned PdV has retained one seat on the new corporate board of European specialty refiner Nynas after a restructuring that freed the venture from US sanctions. The new board composition illustrates PdV’s small but enduring role in the European downstream business that it acquired in the […]
Are Venezuelan Oil Exports Poised For A Comeback?
(Oilprice.com, 13.May.2020) â As the international community seeks answers with regards to the failed armed incursion into Venezuela that took place May 4, allegedly with the immediate participation of former US military veterans, President Maduro has once again proved to be a masterful survival artist. Notwithstanding the umpteenth round of […]
FBI Probes Firms Over Venezuela Oil Trading
(Reuters, 13.May.2020) â The FBI is probing several Mexican and European companies allegedly involved in trading Venezuelan oil as it gathers information for a U.S. Treasury Department inquiry into possible sanctions busting, according to four people familiar with the matter. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy for […]
Fuel Cargo Loaded At Iran Sets Sail To Venezuela
(Reuters, 13.May.2020) â At least one tanker carrying fuel loaded at an Iranian port set sail to crisis-stricken Venezuela, according to vessel tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon on Wednesday, which could help ease an acute scarcity of gasoline in the South American country. The Iran-flagged medium tanker Clavel earlier on […]
Nynas Exits US Sanctions
(Nynas, 12.May.2020) â The US Treasury Departmentâs Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced today that Nynas is no longer being blocked pursuant to the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations. As a result of a corporate restructuring of the ownership of Nynas AB sanctions are lifted, and US persons and companies no […]
Nynas: Removal Of Venezuela-related License
(OFAC, 12.May.2020) â The Department of the Treasuryâs Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is revoking and archiving on its website Venezuela-related General License (GL) 13E âAuthorizing Certain Activities Involving Nynas AB,â and is issuing GL 3H (âAuthorizing Transactions Related to, Provision of Financing for, and Other Dealings in Certain […]
PDVSA Allocates Oil Cargoes To Partner At Petrozamora
(Reuters, 12.May.2020) â A joint venture partner of state oil company PDVSA, GPB Global Resources BV, has received at least two cargoes of Venezuelan crude in recent months as part of a deal to settle pending debt from their Petrozamora project, according to two sources and a shipping document seen […]
Venezuelan Oil Plan Runs Aground
(Argus, 8.May.2020) â A sweeping proposal to draw investment into an Opec nation would normally turn some heads. That is what Venezuelaâs US-backed political opposition had been expecting when it rolled out the final draft of a comprehensive hydrocarbons reform bill last week. But in the time it takes to […]
PdV Rolls Out New JV Presidents
(Argus, 4.May.2020) â Venezuela’s state-owned PdV rolled out the appointment of up to 26 new presidents of joint ventures that are mostly inactive. The appointments, some of whom may have been carryovers, are the latest manifestation of an industry shake-up led by new acting oil minister Tareck El Aissami. El […]
Venezuela Oil Output Sliding, Fields Shut Due To Fire
(Reuters, 4.May.2020) â Venezuelaâs oilfields produced 687,000 barrels of crude last Saturday, up from 653,000 barrels on Friday but below the 718,000 barrels per day (bpd) the country said it produced in March, according to documents seen by Reuters on Monday. The drop came as output in the countryâs Orinoco […]
PDV Holding And Aruba Govt To End Refinery Project
(PDV Holding, 1.May.2020) â PDV Holding, Inc., and the Government of Aruba/Refineria di Aruba (RDA) today executed an amicable termination agreement in relation to the contract for the San NicolĂĄs Aruba Refinery Project. The agreement was completed following parliamentary approval. The final agreement provides that PDV Holdings and its subsidiaries […]
US Seeks To Investigate Mexico Oil-For-Food Pact
(Reuters, 29.Apr.2020) â The U.S. State Department, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico are investigating at least two Mexican firms involved in an oil-for-food pact signed in 2019 with Venezuelaâs government, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. Mexico-based Libre Abordo and an affiliated company, Schlager Business Group, have […]
Is PDVSA Abandoning Its Socialist Agenda?
(Oilprice.com, 29.Apr.2020) â Venezuela seems to be changing tactics when it comes to managing its oil resources. PDVSA is considering a major industry reform that would increase private company activities in its troubled oil industry, according to a document seen by Reuters. This would be a far cry from its […]
Fire Reduces Venezuelan Heavy Crude Flow
(Reuters, 28.Apr.2020) â The latest fire to erupt at one of Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s oil installations has temporarily knocked out up to 130,000 b/d of heavy crude production from three of the firm’s joint ventures with foreign partners. PdV said today it has extinguished the blaze, which broke out on […]
PDVSA Proposes Selling Oil Assets To Private Sector
(Forbes, 28.Apr.2020) â In a total about-face on the âsocialismâ and âcommunismâ and the Yankee-Go-Home attitude of the ruling Socialists United of Venezuela (PSUV), the countryâs beleaguered and bankrupt oil firm PdVSA has apparently thrown in the towel. They think itâs a good idea that the closed economy starts selling […]
Venezuela Floats Lean PdV With Russia Unit
(Argus, 27.Apr.2020) â The two Maduro loyalists who have been effectively running Venezuela’s national oil industry for two months were officially appointed today as acting heads of the oil ministry and PdV, with a mandate to dismantle the company’s bloated Chavez-era organization in favor of a lean structure featuring a […]
Iran Ships Material To Help Repair PDVSA Refinery
(Reuters, 23.Apr.2020) â Venezuela has received refining materials via plane shipment from Iran to help it start the catalytic cracking unit at the 310,000 barrels-per-day Cardon refinery, which is necessary to produce gasoline, an official said on Thursday. The shipments mark a new stage in cooperation between the two OPEC […]
Venezuelaâs Oil Output Could Fall Again Soon
(Oilprice.com, 23.Apr.2020) â On Tuesday, the Trump administration told the last remaining American oil companies in Venezuela that they had until December to wind down operations in the country. The Treasury Departmentâs Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a new license that only authorizes âlimited maintenance of essential operationsâ […]
Chevron Barred From Drilling In Venezuela
(Reuters, 22.Apr.2020) â Chevron Corp has been banned from drilling or transporting oil in Venezuela and its assets there are âmothballedâ as the Trump administration cracks down on money going to the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. The restriction is expected to […]
Chevron In Effect Barred From Venezuela
(Bloomberg, 21.Apr.2020) â Chevron Corp. will be forced to effectively wind down its operations in Venezuela, dealing the Maduro regimeâs crumbling oil industry another blow as U.S. President Donald Trump maneuvers for regime change in the Latin American nation. The U.S. Treasury Department will no longer allow the company to […]
Trump Tells Chevron To âWind Downâ In Venezuela
(AP, 21.Apr.2020) â The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered Chevron Corp. to âwind downâ operations in Venezuela by Dec. 1, barring the California-based oil giant in the meantime from drilling or exporting, as the U.S. increases pressure on President NicolĂĄs Maduro to give up power. Chevron is the last major […]
US Reviews Need For Venezuela Waivers: Update
(Argus, 16.Apr.2020) â The US is rethinking the premise behind its earlier decision to allow Chevron and other US and international firms to continue their presence in Venezuela, as it steps up the pressure of sanctions designed to force Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro to step down. Chevron and European oil […]
El Palito Restart Sputters, Imports On Horizon
(Argus, 15.Apr.2020) â Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s failed effort to restart its 140,000 b/d El Palito refinery is aggravating a fuel deficit that is sparking sporadic protests by frustrated drivers even as the Covid-19 pandemic starts to spread. On top of escalating US sanctions, PdV’s loss of nearly all its 1.3mn […]
Venezuela Supports OPEC+ Market Plan
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 11.Apr.2020) â Venezuela, not invited to participate in the OPEC+ discussions, continues to support the measures that intend to contribute to the stability of the world oil market amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. RELATED STORY: The 9th (Extraordinary) OPEC And Non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting […]
Venezuela’s Private Sector Wants Eased Import Rules
(Reuters, 10.Apr.2020) â Representatives of Venezuelaâs private oil service companies have proposed the government loosen restrictions on gasoline imports and sales, as the country faces its worst motor fuel shortages in more than a decade. In a public statement this week and in discussions with officials of President Nicolas Maduroâs […]
Venezuela Gasoline Shortages Worsen
(Reuters, 8.Apr.2020) â Gasoline shortages in Venezuela are worsening after U.S. officials have told foreign firms to refrain from supplying the fuel to the sanctioned South American nation and only provide diesel, according to five people familiar with the situation. Since late 2019, U.S. officials have asked most of Venezuelaâs […]
PDVSA And Eni Restart Work On Diluent Pipeline
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 8.Apr.2020) â Venezuelaâs state oil company PetrĂłleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and the Italian oil company ENI, which comprise the Empresa Mixta PetrojunĂn, SA — a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (CVP) — announced the restart of construction activities related to a diluent pipeline […]
Crisis Stricken Venezuela Faces Mounting Pressure
(Oilprice.com, 6.Apr.2020) â Over the past weeks, the Trump Administration has tightened the noose around Nicolas Maduroâs regime, increasing pressure on the country sitting on top of the worldâs largest oil reserves. Venezuela is already reeling from a years-long economic disaster that has slashed its crude oil production in recent […]
Venezuela Launches Special Fuel Supply Plan
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 3.Apr.2020) â Venezuelaâs state-owned oil company PetrĂłleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) activated a Special Fuel Supply Plan to counter a naval blockade by the US government, announced Venezuela’s Tareck El Aissami, president of the Presidential Commission “AlĂ RodrĂguez Araque” for the Defense, Restructuring and Reorganization […]
Venezuela Brushing Aside Oil Price Signals For Now
(Argus, 2.Apr.2020) â Venezuela’s crude production partially recovered to around 700,000 b/d at the end of March, but state-owned PdV and its foreign partners cannot afford to dismiss weaker price signals for much longer, according to industry officials inside and outside Venezuela. Output had slid to about 500,000 b/d in […]
Venezuela’s 1Q Oil Exports Fall 17% Over Year Ago
(Reuters, 2.Apr.2020) â Latin American nation’s average exports of crude and refined oil in March were the second lowest since United States imposed sanctions in January 2019. ***
Maduro Highlights Need To Stabilize Oil Market
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 31.Mar.2020) â Venezuelaâs President NicolĂĄs Maduro highlighted the importance of the agreements between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies (OPEC+), as well as the need to advance in rapprochements between the organization, Russia and Saudi Arabia. âI proposed the need to […]