(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer, 2.Nov.2018) — Russian bank Gazprombank on Friday said it had no role in a Venezuelan corruption case at state energy company PDVSA. Abraham Ortega, a former financial […]
Category: Venezuela
Venezuela energy
In Guyana, Exxon Oil Project Stirs International Tensions
(Houston Chronicle, James Osborne, 2.Nov.2018) — Almost 4,000 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, off the northern coastline of South America, Exxon Mobil is drilling one of the […]
Exclusive: Perenco, Gazprombank Named In Venezuela Graft Case – Source
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer, 1.Nov.2018) — Anglo-French oil company Perenco and Russian financial firm Gazprombank have been identified in testimony by a former Venezuelan state oil company official who said he […]
PDVSA’s Citgo Contributes To 8th Annual Houston Energy Day Festival
(Citgo Petroleum, 1.Nov.2018) — CITGO Petroleum Corporation recently participated in Houston’s largest free family festival, Energy Day. The event brought together families, students, energy professionals and other members of the […]
Ex-Venezuelan Oil Exec Admits Bribes In $1.2 Bln Money-Laundering Scheme
(El Nuevo Herald, Jay Weaver And Antonio Maria Delgado, 31.Oct.2018) — A former top official of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company pleaded guilty Wednesday in Miami federal court to playing a […]
PDVSA Bewilders Bond Analysts By Making $949mn Payment
(Bloomberg, Davide Scigliuzzo, 31.Oct.2018) — Venezuela just forked over almost $1 billion to stay current on a bond backed by shares of its U.S. refiner Citgo. The question is why. […]
PDVSA Ships $35 Million Oil Cargo To Pay Dividends To ONGC – Sources
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer, Nidhi Verma, 31.Oct.2018) — Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA has shipped a crude cargo valued at $35 million as partial payment to Indian oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd for […]
Texas Man Pleads Guilty In Ongoing Venezuela Bribery Probe
(The Wall Street Journal, Samuel Rubenfeld, 30.Oct.2018) — U.S. prosecutors said they secured another guilty plea in their ongoing corruption probe of Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, […]
Venezuela Poses Clear Threat – Comments Could Refuel Trump Military Action Talks
(Express, Ciaran McGrath, 30.Oct.2018) — Venezuela represents a “clear threat to regional stability” and a “direct challenge” to the United States, a senior US Government official has said, as the […]
Investors Begin Receiving Payment PDVSA 2020 Bond: Sources
(Reuters) — Investors have started to receive payment of interest and principal on Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA’s 2020 bond, two bondholders said on Tuesday. (Reporting by Corina Pons, writing […]
Lawmaker Says Voluntad Popular To Present ‘Energy Venezuela’ Proposal
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 29.Oct. 2018) — Opposition party Voluntad Popular will present a proposal called “Energy Venezuela,” which will outline guidelines established for a modification of Venezuela’s Hydrocarbons […]
Venezuela’s Hydrocarbon Sector Incurring Weekly Accidents
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 28.Oct.2018) — Petroleum sector accidents and oil spills in Venezuela have become an almost regular occurrence. Between two and three accidents are happening each per […]
Venezuela: Oil Producer’s Slump Reflects Nation’s Decline
(Ft.com, Gideon Long, John Paul Rathbone, 28.Oct.2018) — Gideon Long in Caracas and John Paul Rathbone in Washington October 28, 2018 Print this page 95 In the lobby of the […]
This Venezuelan Energy Policy Will Kill The Investment We Need
(The Australian Financial Review, Craig Emerson, 28.Oct.2018) — On November 22, 2017, a nation’s government legislated price controls in response to voter dissatisfaction with the rising cost of essential items. […]
Venezuela, Mexico Divert Crude To U.S. As Canadian Barrels Get Stuck
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, Collin Eaton, 26.Oct.2018) — Cash-strapped state-run oil companies in Mexico and Venezuela have begun diverting crude historically processed for domestic use and sending it to U.S. refiners […]
Venezuela To Make $949mn Bond Payment To Keep Citgo Assets
(OilPrice.com. Tsvetana Paraskova, 26.Oct.2018) — Although Venezuela is regularly delaying or avoiding bond payments and is behind on billions of U.S. dollars in such payments, it is preparing to make […]
PDVSA Distillation Units At Cardón Refinery Halted
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 25.Oct.2018) — Four distillations units at PDVSA’s Cardón refinery, located in Falcón state, are said halted due to a lack of oil and power failures, […]
Bondholders Raise Hopes Venezuela Will Pay Up On Due Debt
(Ft.com, Gideon Long, 25.Oct.2018) — In a month in which emerging market government bonds have been hammered by the prospect of US rate increases, geopolitical risk and fears of a […]
Conoco Is Collecting $2 Billion From Venezuela—One Barrel of Oil at a Time
(Bloomberg, Alex Nussbaum, 25.Oct.2018) — ConocoPhillips’ decade-old legal war with Venezuela began paying off this week as the embattled Latin American country started making good on a $2 billion arbitration […]
CITGO Expands Innovation Academy Presence In Texas
(CITGO, 25.Oct.2018) — CITGO Petroleum Company announced the West Oso Independent School District has approved the launch of a CITGO Innovation Academy in Corpus Christi, Texas. This is the fourth […]
PDVSA Prepares To Make $949 Mln Payment On Citgo-Backed Bond
(Bloomberg, 24.Oct.2018) — Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s plan to make a $949 million bond payment would mark a rare exception for Nicolas Maduro’s regime as it tries to hold on […]
Justice Department Demands Details From Glencore On Intermediary Firms
(Reuters, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Julia Payne, 23.Oct.2018) — The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking documents from Glencore (GLEN.L) about intermediary companies that the commodities firm has worked with in the […]
Guyana: The World’s Next Offshore Oil Hotspot
(Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 23.Oct.2018) — With population of fewer than 750,000 people, Guyana—a neighbor of Venezuela—has always depended on commodities. Sugar, gold, shrimp, timber, bauxite, and rice account for nearly […]
Foreign Oil And Gas Firms Look To Play Crucial Role In Venezuela
(Energy Global, David Bizley, 19.Oct.2018) — The majority of foreign companies are not making any profit or losing money in their partnerships with PDVSA to develop and produce hydrocarbons due […]
Trump Talks Tough On Venezuela, But Imports Ever More Venezuelan Oil
(Miami Herald, Andres Oppenheimer, 17.Oct.2018) — There is a major inconsistency in President Trump’s stand on Venezuela: He talks tough — and even makes veiled threats of a military intervention […]
U.S. Eyes More Venezuelan Sanctions, But Oil On Backburner: U.S. Official
(Reuters, Roberta Rampton, 17.Oct.2018) — The United States plans to turn up sanctions pressure on Venezuela but sees less need to immediately target its energy sector, given sagging production from […]
PDVSA, Pequiven Retirees Protest Lack Of Pension Payments
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 17.Oct.2018) — Retired workers with PDVSA and Pequiven spoke out in the streets in a protest aimed at calling attention to pensions unpaid by the […]
PDVSA Preparing $950mn Payment On 2020 Bond
(Reuters, 15.Oct.2018) — Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA is preparing to pay holders of its 2020 bond some $950 million this month, after failing to make interest payments on most […]
Venezuela Solicits Audit of Pacific Coast Refinery, Río Napo
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 13.Oct.2018) — Venezuela has solicited an audit of costs related to the Pacific Coast Refinery and Río Napo JV in order to discuss potential investment […]
Shell Seeks To Sell Venezuela JV Stake
(Reuters, 12.Oct.2018) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc is negotiating the sale of its stake in a Venezuelan oil joint venture to Paris-based Maurel & Prom , three sources said this […]
Maurel & Prom Confirms Discussions With Shell Over Urdaneta West Field In Venezuela
(Maurel & Prom, 12.Oct.2018) — Etablissements Maurel & Prom notes recent press articles and confirms it is working on the acquisition of Shell Exploration and Production Investments B.V.’s 40% interest […]
Venezuela Sets New Wages For Oil Workers As Protests Simmer
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer, 10.Oct.2018) — Venezuela on Wednesday increased wages for workers at state energy company PDVSA after employees staged small protests to decry meager salaries amid the OPEC nation’s […]
IEA Urges Opec to Open Taps as Oil Markets Enter ‘Red Zone’
(Bloomberg, Javier Blas, Grant Smith & Francine Lacqua, 9.Oct.2018) — Oil prices have rallied to a four-year-high due to US sanctions on Iran and the Venezuelan crisis, even as Saudi […]
Citgo, Valero Drive Up U.S. Purchases of Venezuelan Oil in September
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 4.Oct.2018) — Venezuela’s September crude sales to the United States rose to their highest in over a year, boosted by purchases by Citgo Petroleum, the U.S. refining […]
Venezuela’s Oil Exports Are Falling Even Faster Than Expected
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav, 3.Oct.2018) — A delay in port repairs following a tanker collision is putting additional pressure on already pressured Venezuelan crude oil exports, Reuters quoted anonymous sources close […]
Venezuelan Oil Port Repairs Delayed, Crude Exports Fall: Sources
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 2.Oct.2018) — Repairs to a dock at Venezuela’s main oil export port will take at least another month to complete following a tanker collision more than a […]
Cut Venezuela’s Oil Exports, and Cut its Tyrant Down to Size
(Washington Examiner, 1.Oct.2018) — Meeting with the president of Chile at the White House on Friday, President Trump pledged to continue confronting humanitarian suffering in Venezuela. The president deserves credit […]
Oil Workers Protest Pay in Venezuela
(Bloomberg, 1.Oct.2018) — Venezuelan oil workers protested against a new minimum wage at key crude processing facilities last week, claiming the new law disregards previous pay scales and union agreements. […]
India Eyes Rupee-Route, Barter for Venezuelan Crude
(The Hindu Business Line, Vishwanath Kulkarni, Richa Mishra, 30.Sep.2018) — India is considering setting up a rupee-payment mechanism for trade with Venezuela, besides exporting rice and drugs to the South […]
Venezuela to Continue in Defense of Oil Market Equilibrium
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 29.Sep.2018) — Venezuela’s Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo announced the South American country would continue to seek equilibrium in the petroleum market. “Under the leadership of […]
Brazil Says to Suspend Energy Imports from Venezuela
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 28.Sep.2018) — The Brazilian government announced it would suspend, until further notice, the importation of Venezuelan energy to supply Roraima, a state in northern Brazil […]
Uruguay Judge Orders ANCAP to Pay $5.6 Mln to Exor Internacional Ltda.
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 28.Sep.2018) — Uruguayan Judge Carlos Aguirre ordered ANCAP to pay a fine of $5.6 million plus interest to Exor Internacional Ltda. as a result of […]
Oil Spill Reported at Venezuela’s Anzoátegui Petrochemical Complex
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 27.Sep.2018) — Venezuela’s José Antonio Anzoátegui Petrochemical Complex was the site of a crude oil spill that affected the beaches of the Peñalver municipality in […]
Venezuela Faces Fresh Blow With Ship-Fuel Rules Threatening Exports
(Bloomberg, 27.Sep.2018) — New rules forcing ships to use cleaner marine fuels may deal yet another blow to cash-strapped Petroleos de Venezuela SA, an exporter of high-sulfur fuel oil. From […]
PetroMonagas, PetroVictoria Rumored to Have Changed President
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 26.Sep.2018) — The president of the two Venezuelan joint venture companies is rumored to have been changed, according to reports in the daily Noticias Venezuela. […]
Venezuela Doubles Down on Chinese Money to Reverse Crisis
(AP, 20.Sep.2018) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that new investments from China will help his country dramatically boost its oil production, doubling down on financing from the Asian […]
OPEC’s Decade of Turmoil Leaves Cartel Seeking a New Way Forward
(Bloomberg, Christopher Sell, 20.Sep.2018) — A global recession, both $140 and $30 oil, the U.S. shale revolution, a market-share war, and output cuts. OPEC’s 60-year history has rarely confronted a […]
Venezuela’s Retrogressing Economy — Exhibit 1, PDVSA
(Steve Hanke, Contributor to Forbes, 19.Sep.2018) — Two hallmarks characterize capitalist economies. Firstly, property is predominately in private hands. Consequently, goods and services are allocated via market mechanisms in which […]
President Moise Wants Full Transparency in PetroCaribe Probe
(CMC, 19.Sep.2018) — President Jovenel Moise has called on newly installed Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant to ensure that there’s total transparency in the investigation regarding the use of funds under […]
New Corruption Scheme Revealed at PDVSA
(Prensa Latina, 19.Sep.2018) — The Public Prosecutor”s Office (MP) has revealed today a new corruption scheme in the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which has caused losses of 18,500,000 dollars […]