(Argus, 11.Feb.2020) â Juan Guaido is finally returning to Caracas today, with a vow to dislodge the âusurperâ so he and his team of exiles can Make Venezuela Great Again. âWhereâs Guaido?â is a question that often echoes among Venezuelan opponents of President Nicolas Maduro. Young opposition leader Juan Guaido […]
Category: Venezuela
Venezuela energy
Citgo Names Jack Lynch As Chief Compliance Officer
(Citgo, 11.Feb.2020) â Citgo Petroleum Corporation announced the appointment of Jack Lynch as the companyâs 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 Citgoâs new Chief Compliance & Ethics […]
US Imports Of Russian Residue Complicate Venezuela Sanctions
(Argus, 10.Feb.2020) â 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) â 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) â Trinidad and Tobagoâs 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) â 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 Rowleyâs confirmation on Monday that US sanctions have had an […]
Russia Sends Lavrov To Venezuela
(Reuters, 4.Feb.2020) â 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) â The Government will independently develop the natural gas from the Loran-Manatee field on Trinidad and Tobagoâs 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) â 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) â 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) â 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) â 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. Maduroâs representatives have held talks with Russiaâs Rosneft PJSC, […]
PDVSA Total Debt Remained Unchanged In 2019
(Reuters, 27.Jan.2020) â Venezuelaâs 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) â 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) â PDVSA PetroPiar President Gabriel Carmona and executives from the mixed companyâs management team help meetings to discuss ways to accelerate administrative and operational processes related to the companyâs Operational Bare Center (COB) and San Remo. The meetings addressed ways to increase PetroPiarâs oil […]
Guaido Rubbing Elbows In Surprise Foreign Trip
(Argus, 20.Jan.2020) â 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) â Thereâs only one path to rebuilding Venezuela, and itâs 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 licensesâand Maduroâs recent scheme to retake […]
Chevron Gets 4th Reprieve From Venezuela Sanctions
(Argus, 17.Jan.2020) â 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) â 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) â 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) â The Trump administrationâs 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 Chinaâs economic activities have declined, Maduro and his socialist government are becoming […]
Abrams Sees China Scaling Back Support For Maduro
(Reuters, 15.Jan.2020) â The Trump administrationâs 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 Chinaâs 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) â Venezuelaâs President NicolĂĄs 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 PetrĂłleos de […]
PDVSA’s Partners As Oil Traders Amid Sanctions
(Reuters, 13.Jan.2020) â 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) â 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) â The SimĂłn BolĂvar 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) â Venezuelaâs 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) â 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) â Venezuelaâs oil exports plummeted 32% last year to 1.001 million barrels per day, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and state-run PDVSAâs 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) â 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) â Venezuelaâs 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) â 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) â If anyone is to ever write a guidebook on political survival, the skills of Venezuelan President NicolĂĄs 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) â With an emoji of a flexing bicep, Venezuelan state oil company PetrĂłleos 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 Venezuelaâs interior have in recent days reached the capital […]
US Cuts Venezuelan Flows Plans For China, Rosneft
(S&P Global Platts, 24.Dec.2019) â 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) â 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) â At stake is control of the countryâs National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition leader Juan GuaidĂł, who has accused President NicolĂĄs Maduro of corruption. The United States accused President NicolĂĄs 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) â Venezuelaâs state oil company PetrĂłleos 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 InĂ©s Plant located in the […]
PDVSA, Partners Produce 500,000 b/d Of Orinoco Crude
(S&P Global Platts, 17.Dec.2019) â 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) â Workers are starving, equipment is crumbling and output is languishing near record lows at Venezuelaâs state oil producer. Yet yoga, guitar and dance lessons continue. Petroleos de Venezuela SAâs 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) â 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. âThe oil that Venezuela produces and exports belongs to the entire world. As a large oil producing […]
Venezuela Oil Output Rises
(Reuters, 10.Dec.2019) â Venezuelaâs 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 âCitgo 6â
(Chron.com, Sergio Chapa, 9.Dec.2019) â 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 […]
Refineria di Korsou On Talks With PDVSA
(KĂČrsou, 9.Dec.2019) â Refineria di KĂČrsou (RdK) continues to take steps to shape the transition period that has been agreed during a meeting last week between the RdK and PDVSA last week in Caracas. It needs to be emphasized that the transition period will cover the time laps between after […]
Venezuela Gov’t, Opposition Weigh Giving Firms Operating Rights
(Reuters, Luc Cohen, Deisy Buitrago, Mayela Armas, 6.Dec.2019) â Venezuelaâs government and opposition have discussed allowing private companies in joint ventures with state oil company PDVSA to operate oil fields themselves, reversing a longstanding requirement that PDVSA control such operations, three people familiar with the talks said. While a similar […]
CITGO Reports 3Q Results
(Citgo, 6.Dec.2019) â Citgo Petroleum Corporation reported strong financial and operational performance as the Board of Directors reviewed with the Shareholder the companyâs performance during the first nine months of 2019 at a meeting at Citgo headquarters in Houston. The report included net income of $270 million for the first […]
LatAm, US Ban Travel For Venezuela’s Maduro, Allies
(Reuters, Luis Jaime Acosta, 3.Dec.2019) â Fifteen countries in the Americas agreed on Tuesday to ban 29 Venezuelans, including the oil-producing countryâs president, Nicolas Maduro, and his close allies, from traveling within their borders as part of diplomatic efforts to push him to step down. The meeting included representatives from […]
Venezuela And Cuba âCircumvent Sanctionsâ
(Miami Herald, Jim Wyss and Nora Gamez Torres, 3.Dec.2019) â Washington continued to tighten its grip on Venezuela and Cuba on Tuesday, naming six oil tankers that deliver fuel from the South American nation to the island as âblocked property.â The action â just the latest in a series of […]
OFAC Adds Six Vessels To List
(Piero Stewart, Energy Analytics Institute, 3.Dec.2019) â The US Department of the Treasuryâs Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) add six vessels to its SDN list as of 3 Dec. and as follows. — ICARO Crude Oil Tanker Panama flag; Vessel Registration Identification IMO 9038842 (vessel) [Venezuela-EO13884] (Linked To: PDVSA). […]
Venezuela Offers Suppliers Payment In Yuan
(Reuters, Mayela Armas, Corina Pons, 28.Nov.2019) â Venezuelaâs government and its oil company PDVSA have offered to pay suppliers and contractors into accounts in China using the yuan currency, five people familiar with the matter said. The move made in recent months is the latest example of how Caracas has […]