(Reuters, 18.Feb.2020) — The United States on Tuesday tightened financial restrictions on Venezuela, blacklisting a subsidiary of Russian state oil major Rosneft that President Donald Trump’s administration has said provides a lifeline to President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department increase the pressure on Russia, […]
Category: Venezuela
Venezuela energy
Rosneft Says US Sanctions On RTSA Illegal
(Rosneft, 18.Feb.2020) — The sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department against Rosneft’s subsidiary RTSA and its Chairman are illegal, unjustified, and an act of legal abuse. Rosneft has been implementing its projects in Venezuela in strict compliance with rules of international and national laws. In the course of the […]
Ending Putin’s Support Of Venezuela Not Easy For US
(AP, 18.Feb.2020) — In October 2016, the head of Russia’s largest oil company traveled to the birthplace of Hugo Chávez, in the empty, sweltering plains of Venezuela, to unveil a giant bronze statue of the late socialist leader that he and his longtime friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, commissioned from […]
Venezuela, Rosneft and US Sanctions Complications
(S&P Global Platts, 18.Feb.2020) — US efforts to starve Venezuela’s Maduro regime of oil revenues have substantially increased the role of Russian energy in the US Gulf Coast, an outcome the Trump administration likely never anticipated when it put sanctions in place over a year ago. The situation has created […]
PDVSA Seeks Buyers For 677 Mb/d Of February Crude
(S&P Global Platts, 14.Feb.2020) — Venezuela’s state owned PDVSA has 677,000 b/d of crude available to sell for February, but no buyers because of US sanctions, according to a company official. “The climbing of US sanctions against the Nicolas Maduro government alienated the few clients that were still daring to […]
PDVSA Steps Up Shipments To Cuba
(Reuters, 14.Feb.2020) — Venezuela’s state energy firm PDVSA has been shipping more oil this month to close ally Cuba, as tighter U.S. sanctions have worsened fuel shortages on the Caribbean island, according to sources and internal company documents seen by Reuters. Six vessels, most of them owned by PDVSA’s maritime […]
Chavez’s Legacy Oil Hasn’t Been Broken?
(The Globe and Mail, 13.Feb.2020) — In terms of its trademark nationalist approach to its economy – the crown jewel of which has long been the country’s oil industry – Venezuela doesn’t seem like what it used to be. First, in 2019, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – who succeeded Hugo […]
Ask No Questions, Tell No Lies
(Argus, 11.Feb.2020) — Juan Guaido is finally returning to Caracas today, with a vow to dislodge the “usurper” so he and his team of exiles can Make Venezuela Great Again. “Where’s Guaido?” is a question that often echoes among Venezuelan opponents of President Nicolas Maduro. Young opposition leader Juan Guaido […]
Citgo Names Jack Lynch As Chief Compliance Officer
(Citgo, 11.Feb.2020) — Citgo Petroleum Corporation announced the appointment of Jack Lynch as the company’s new Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer. Lynch will continue to serve as the Vice President of Legal & Government Affairs, a role he has held since October 2019. As Citgo’s new Chief Compliance & Ethics […]
US Imports Of Russian Residue Complicate Venezuela Sanctions
(Argus, 10.Feb.2020) — US Gulf Coast refiners have been increasing their imports of a crude oil residue from Russia in response to both sanctions on Venezuelan crude exports and declining prices of high sulfur fuel oil ahead of International Maritime Organization’s revamp of marine fuel sulfur regulations. The trend could […]
Storage Constraints Prompt PdV To Consider Oil Pits
(Argus, 28.Feb.2020) — Venezuela’s PdV has exhausted its storage capacity and is now considering digging open-air pits to hold swelling stocks that US sanctions are keeping off the export market, according to multiple PdV upstream and marketing officials. A presidential commission created on 19 February to reorganize PdV has instructed […]
Rowley comments on Loran-Manatee deal
(Office of the PM of Trinidad and Tobago, 7.Feb.2020, Words: 2500) — Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister the Honourable Keith Rowley provided details related to the agreement for the development of the Loran-Manatee field that straddles the maritime borders of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. Statement by Dr the Honourable […]
Beyond The Dragon Deal
(Trinidad Newsday, 5.Feb.2020) — One of the biggest lessons we can take away from the pausing of the landmark cross-border agreement between TT and Venezuela is how our interests are inherently wrapped up with international politics. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s confirmation on Monday that US sanctions have had an […]
Russia Sends Lavrov To Venezuela
(Reuters, 4.Feb.2020) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Venezuela on Friday in a show of support for President Nicolas Maduro, a socialist who Washington wants out of power. Russia has helped Maduro weather a political crisis as the United States has targeted Caracas with sanctions and, like dozens […]
Trinidad To Develop Natural Gas From Manatee Field
(Office of the PM of Trinidad and Tobago, 4.Feb.2020) — The Government will independently develop the natural gas from the Loran-Manatee field on Trinidad and Tobago’s side of the maritime border. Prime Minister Dr the Hon. Keith Rowley made the announcement today (Monday 3rd February 2020) at the 2020 Energy […]
Trinidad Cancels Gas Deal Over US Sanctions
(Aljazeera, 3 Feb 2020) — Trinidad and Tobago has cancelled an agreement with Venezuela for the joint development of a natural gas field straddling their maritime border because of United States sanctions on Venezuela’s state energy giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). The Caribbean island nation is a major exporter […]
Ecopetrol Reports Changes To Accounting Classification
(Ecopetrol, 3.Feb.2020) — Ecopetrol S.A. reports that having completed all legal and accounting analyses regarding the ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Justice dated October 30, 2019, reported by this same means, whereby the company obtained a 51.88% shareholding of INVERCOLSA, this investment will be classified in Ecopetrol S.A’s […]
Venezuela Lawmakers Eye Private Sector Oil Role
(Reuters, 28.Jan.2020) — A group of Venezuelan lawmakers backed by the ruling Socialist Party are exploring ways to increase the participation of private companies in the OPEC nation’s oilfields, one of the legislators said in an interview on Tuesday. Lawmakers calling themselves opponents of President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 5 […]
Venezuela Weighs Privatizing Oil
(Bloomberg, 27.Jan.2020) — Facing economic collapse and painful sanctions, the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has proposed giving majority shares and control of its oil industry to big international corporations, a move that would forsake decades of state monopoly. Maduro’s representatives have held talks with Russia’s Rosneft PJSC, […]
PDVSA Total Debt Remained Unchanged In 2019
(Reuters, 27.Jan.2020) — Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA said its financial debt fell less than 0.1% in 2019 from the prior year to some $34.5 billion, though it remained in default on its bonds as sanctions freeze it out of the global banking system. PDVSA, which is short for Petroleos […]
PDVSA refineries Amuay and Cardon shuttered
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (By S&P Global Platts, 27.Jan.2020, Words: 249) — PDVSA has shut down its last two operating refineries in Venezuela, closing its Amuay and Cardon facilities at the Paraguana Refining Center (CRP), the largest refining complex in the country, according to a technical report seen Monday by S&P Global […]
PDVSA PetroPiar President Eyes Higher Output
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 24.Jan.2020) — PDVSA PetroPiar President Gabriel Carmona and executives from the mixed company’s management team help meetings to discuss ways to accelerate administrative and operational processes related to the company’s Operational Bare Center (COB) and San Remo. The meetings addressed ways to increase PetroPiar’s oil […]
Guaido Rubbing Elbows In Surprise Foreign Trip
(Argus, 20.Jan.2020) — The US government is hoping a high-profile international tour by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will re-inject momentum into its protracted campaign to unseat President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido turned up in Colombia today in the initial leg of his first journey outside Venezuela since an ill-fated February […]
Oil Is The Only Way Back Up For Venezuela
(Oilprice.com, 19.Jan.2020) — There’s only one path to rebuilding Venezuela, and it’s paved with oil. For the time being, that path leads nowhere. The key to controlling everything now lies with the National Assembly, the only body with the power to hand out oil licenses—and Maduro’s recent scheme to retake […]
Chevron Gets 4th Reprieve From Venezuela Sanctions
(Argus, 17.Jan.2020) — Washington will allow Chevron and four US oil field service providers to continue operating in Venezuela until 22 April by granting a fourth waiver late yesterday from US sanctions imposed almost a year ago on the Opec country. The US Treasury Department sanctions enforcement arm, the Office […]
Venezuela Oil Exports Accelerate
(Argus, 16.Jan.2020) — Venezuela kicked off the new year with at least 730,000 b/d of crude exports, led by several India-bound cargoes, according to local and international shipping data obtained by Argus. In the first half of January, a half dozen tankers loaded at state-owned PdV’s Jose terminal, most recently […]
Payment Demands In Crypto Pauses Some Oil Purchases
(Bloomberg, 16.Jan.2020) — Some buyers of Venezuelan crude oil have halted purchases after the country started demanding payment of port fees in its failed cryptocurrency. Exports of at least 1 million barrels of oil were put on hold after the government announced this week that certain maritime fees, currently paid […]
China Scaling Back Economic Support For Maduro: Envoy
(Reuters, 15.Jan.2020) — The Trump administration’s envoy on Venezuela said China appears to be scaling back economic support for President Nicolas Maduro, and Beijing acknowledged a diminishing role largely due to U.S. sanctions against the OPEC nation. As China’s economic activities have declined, Maduro and his socialist government are becoming […]
Abrams Sees China Scaling Back Support For Maduro
(Reuters, 15.Jan.2020) — The Trump administration’s envoy on Venezuela said China appears to be scaling back economic support for President Nicolas Maduro, and Beijing acknowledged a diminishing role largely due to U.S. sanctions against the OPEC nation. As China’s economic activities have declined, Maduro and his socialist government are becoming […]
Maduro Authorizes Sale Of 4.5 MMbbls In Petros
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 14.Jan.2020) — Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro signed a decree for the mandatory and immediate fulfillment of the sale of 4.5 million barrels of crude oil in Petros from the certified physical reserve stock of 30 million barrels currently held by state oil company Petróleos de […]
PDVSA’s Partners As Oil Traders Amid Sanctions
(Reuters, 13.Jan.2020) — Venezuela, its oil exports decimated by U.S. sanctions, is testing a new method of getting its crude to market: allocating cargoes to joint-venture partners including Chevron Corp, which in turn market the oil to customers in Asia and Africa. This would not violate sanctions as long as […]
After $1bn Venezuela Deal, US Oilfield Firm Shuts Doors
(Reuters, 12.Jan.2020) — An Oklahoma oilfield company that played a central role in Venezuela’s high profile attempt to convince the world it could halt production declines at its dilapidated oilfields has shut its doors, according to three people familiar with the matter. In 2016, Horizontal Well Drillers, a closely held […]
Citgo Announces Small Grants Program Winners
(Citgo, 24.Jan.2020) — The Simón Bolívar Foundation Inc. (SBF), a non-profit, private foundation of CITGO Petroleum Corporation, awarded seven grants totaling $100,000 to nonprofits that expand access to medicine, health care services, and health education to vulnerable individuals in and from Venezuela. The grant winners were recognized at an SBF […]
Maduro Seeks Oil Contract Changes: Lawmakers
(Reuters, 8.Jan.2020) — Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party hopes legislators it recently declared to be in charge of congress will approve changes to ownership of some crucial state oil assets, five opposition lawmakers said on Wednesday. Pro-government legislators on Sunday declared little-known politician Luis Parra as the head of congress after […]
Guaido Survival Likely To Buy Chevron More Time
(Argus, 7.Jan.2020) — The White House appears likely to extend a waiver for Chevron to operate in Venezuela after US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido overcame a government-backed rival to retain control of the National Assembly. Guaido, accompanied by allied deputies, pushed past heavy security surrounding the assembly this morning and […]
Venezuelan Oil Exports Fell By A Third In 2019
(Reuters, 7.Jan.2020) — Venezuela’s oil exports plummeted 32% last year to 1.001 million barrels per day, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and state-run PDVSA’s reports, as a lack of staff and capital drove output to its lowest level in almost 75 years and U.S. sanctions shrank exports markets. The drop […]
US Considering More Venezuela Sanctions
(S&P Global Platts, 6.Jan.2020) — The US may respond to escalating political disarray in Venezuela by allowing a sanctions waiver for Chevron and four US oil services companies to expire later this month and could ratchet up oil sanctions on foreign companies still working in the South American country, analysts […]
PDVSA, Chevron Turn Oil Blender Back Into upgrader
(Reuters, 3.Jan.2020) — Venezuela’s Petropiar facility, a joint venture between state oil company PDVSA and Chevron Corp, is once again operating as a crude upgrader after several months working as a less complex blending facility, according to a document seen by Reuters and a source with knowledge of the matter. […]
PDVSA Cedes Oilfield Operations To Foreign Firms
(Reuters, 3.Jan.2020) — Venezuelan state company PDVSA is letting some joint venture partners take over the day-to-day operation of oilfields as its own capacity dwindles due to sanctions and a lack of cash and staff, according to a former oil minister, an opposition lawmaker and industry sources. Crude production by […]
Venezuela Is Quietly Ramping Up Oil Production
(Oilprice.com, 31.Dec.2019) — If anyone is to ever write a guidebook on political survival, the skills of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would certainly top the contemporary charts. This autumn went relatively well for the besieged leader as the political headlines drifted towards the US-China trade wars, OPEC+ production cuts and […]
PDVSA Touts Gasoline Delivery
(Reuters, 31.Dec.2019) — With an emoji of a flexing bicep, Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA, on Tuesday celebrated what was once a routine task in the OPEC nation: delivering gasoline. Acute gasoline shortages in much of Venezuela’s interior have in recent days reached the capital […]
US Cuts Venezuelan Flows Plans For China, Rosneft
(S&P Global Platts, 24.Dec.2019) — US sanctions on PDVSA shut down roughly 500,000 b/d of crude flows from Venezuela to Gulf Coast refineries within a matter of weeks after being imposed in January, and helped cut the South American nation’s oil production roughly in half before the end of the […]
Maduro Govt Eyes Turning Point
(Argus, 20.Dec.2019) — PdV is leaning on joint-venture partners as it looks to continue a nascent crude output revival and live up to an improved economic outlook for 2020 The US sanctions-hit government of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro aims to turn a corner in its struggle to maintain power, as […]
US Says Maduro Rigging Coming Vote
(NYT, 20.Dec.2019) — At stake is control of the country’s National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has accused President Nicolás Maduro of corruption. The United States accused President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela on Friday of trying to rig a coming election for control of […]
PDVSA Completes Termobarrancas Maintenance
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 18.Dec.2019) — Venezuela’s state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) carried out major maintenance at the 100-megawatt turbo combustion generator at the Termobarrancas Electric Generation Plant, located in the Obispos municipality of Barinas state. PDVSA also incorporated the 30-megawatt Santa Inés Plant located in the […]
PDVSA, Partners Produce 500,000 b/d Of Orinoco Crude
(S&P Global Platts, 17.Dec.2019) — Production levels by Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA and its international partners in the Orinoco Belt rose to 500,000 b/d, or 38.5% of its 1.3 million b/d maximum capacity, up from 435,000 b/d November 4, according to a technical report S&P Global Platts saw Tuesday. Highlights: — […]
PDVSA Perks Include Yoga And Guitar Lessons
(Bloomberg, Peter Millard and Fabiola Zerpa, 11.Dec.2019) — Workers are starving, equipment is crumbling and output is languishing near record lows at Venezuela’s state oil producer. Yet yoga, guitar and dance lessons continue. Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s cultural arm is offering those classes to all employees along with workshops on […]
Barkindo Says US Sanctions On Venezuela Unhealthy
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 10.Dec.2019) — OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo assured that unilateral sanctions imposed on member countries of the organization are unhealthy for the efficient functioning of the oil market. “The oil that Venezuela produces and exports belongs to the entire world. As a large oil producing […]
Venezuela Oil Output Rises
(Reuters, 10.Dec.2019) — Venezuela’s crude output in November jumped more than 20% from the prior month to the highest level since the United States tightened sanctions on state oil company PDVSA in August, two people with knowledge of PDVSA data said this week. November output averaged between 926,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) […]
Venezuela Releases ‘Citgo 6’
(Chron.com, Sergio Chapa, 9.Dec.2019) — Six executives of Houston refiner Citgo are out of a Venezuelan prison, according to a late Monday report by Reuters. After spending two years in prison on corruption charges, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Gustavo Cardenas and Jose Pereira are said […]