(AFP, 3.Aug.2018) – A power failure cut electricity to 80 per cent of the Venezuelan capital Caracas Tuesday, provoking transport and communications chaos, authorities said. Electricity Minister Luis Motta said the Government was “working on restoring the service”. The power outage sparked traffic jams in the capital where both the […]
Category: Venezuela
Venezuela energy
Citgo Raises $$750,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Association
(Citgo Petroleum Corporation, 31.Jul.2018) – The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) depends on partnerships to fulfill their mission, and as their largest corporate sponsor, Citgo Petroleum Corporation hosts the annual MDA Driving for a Cure golf outing for employees and contractors from the Citgo Lemont Refinery. This year, on June 26, […]
Venezuela the Clear Leader in Oil Reserves
(UPI, Daniel J. Graeber, 31.Jul.2018) – An annual review of energy trends from Italian energy company Eni found the United States is a “game changer,” though its Venezuela with the largest reserves. In a report running nearly 90 pages, the Italian company’s 17th annual review found total oil reserves declined […]
Once Oil Wealthy, Maracaibo Struggles to Keep Lights On
(Reuters, Mayela Armas, 31.Jul.2018) – Across Maracaibo, the capital of Venezuela’s largest state, residents unplug refrigerators to guard against power surges. Many only buy food they will consume the same day. Others regularly sleep outside. The rolling power blackouts in the state of Zulia pile more misery on Venezuelans living […]
Ecopetrol Announces Changes to Management Structure
(Ecopetrol, 31.Jul.2018) – Ecopetrol S.A. reports that at its session on July 27, 2018, Ecopetrol’s Board of Directors approved adjustments to the company’s management structure in addition to those announced last July 4, in response to the Ecopetrol Group’s needs relating to growth, competitiveness and transformation. The Offices of the […]
Power Outage Hits Most of Venezuela’s Capital
(AP, 31.Jul.2018) – Most of Venezuela’s capital is without power following a failure at an electrical plant. Energy Minister Luis Motta Dominguez said on Twitter that Tuesday’s outage has left 80 percent of Caracas without electricity, as well as parts of neighboring Miranda and Vargas states. He offered no further […]
US Charges Point to Rampant Corruption at PDVSA
https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/us-charges-point-to-rampant-corruption-at-venezuela-state-oil-company/ (InSight Crime, 30.Jul.2018) – US authorities are charging a network of Venezuelan elites and international financial actors with laundering over a billion dollars stolen from the state-owned oil company, illustrating once again how corruption has ransacked the South American country, and why it can be considered a mafia state. […]
Venezuela Inflation to Hit 1 Mln Percent. Thanks, Socialism.
(Washington Post, Megan McArdle, 27.Jul.2018) – According to the International Monetary Fund, by the end of the year, the annual inflation rate in Venezuela will reach 1 million percent. A number like that is hard to grasp. Simply put, a candy bar that cost $1 today would cost $10,000 at the […]
Venezuela Gasoline Price Likely to Rise
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 27.Jul.2018) – The price of gasoline in Venezuela is likely to increase. For some services such as gasoline, there will be a relative increase in price, reported the daily newspaper El National, citing Ecoanalítica Director Asdrúbal Oliveros. “It’s as if they were decreeing an unannounced […]
Hiking Gasoline Won’t Fix Venezuela’s Fiscal Problem
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 27.Jul.2018) – Hiking the price of gasoline in Venezuela won’t fix the OPEC country’s fiscal problem. That’s according to recent statements from an opposition leader. “Although the price of fuel has to be raised, it will not be enough to solve the [country’s] fiscal problem,” […]
Falling Oil Output Squeezes Maduro Government
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 27.Jul.2018) – The continued decline in Venezuela’s oil production acts to squeeze the government of President Nicolas Maduro, says an Ecoanalitica executive. “The fall in oil production puts more restriction on the government,” said Ecoanalitica Director Asdrubal Oliveros during an interview with Shirley Varnagy on […]
SPS Expects Urdaneta Field Output Increase
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 26.Jul.2018) – Southern Procurement Services (SPS) expects production from the Urdaneta Field in Zulia state to increase to 19,000 barrels per day (b/d) from 12,000 barrels per day in 45 days due to the purchase of Russian and Ukrainian equipment. “We will reach 19 thousand […]
EIA Beta Interactive Data Analysis
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 26.Jul.2018) – Beta data from the EIA provide users with an interactive way to analyze multiple petroleum data. According to the most recent beta crude oil reserve data provided by the US-based Energy Information Administration, two countries in the Latin American region make the list […]
Machado Says PDVSA Converted into ‘Junk’
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 25.Jul.2018) – PDVSA has been converted into ‘junk or scraps’ by the administration of the current Venezuelan president. That’s according to statements from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Her statements were made during a meeting with local media and posted to her twitter account […]
Former Cerro Negro Workers Still Seek Payment
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 23.Jul.2018) – It has been 11 years and the 7,000 direct and indirect Venezuelan workers of US oil company Exxon Mobil still haven’t received their social benefits or other liquidations. Those payment were assumed by the government of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez when his […]
Oil, Electric Sectors to Join Venezuelan Strike
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 23.Jul.2018) – Representatives from trade unions from the oil, electricity, food, education and health sectors announced plans to join a national strike called by opposition political parties, businessmen, unions, churches and other sectors of society in Venezuela. “The governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro […]
Union Official Demands Release of PDVSA Workers
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 23.Jul.2018) – The four workers are being held in detention due to accusations they caused a petroleum spill in the Guarapiche River in Monagas state. Their arrest is “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” reported the daily newspaper El Nacional, citing oil union official […]
Venezuela’s Inflation to Reach 1 Million Percent
(Bloomberg, Andrew Rosati, 23.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s inflation will skyrocket to 1 million percent by the end of the year as the government continues to print money to cover a growing budget hole, the International Monetary Fund predicted on Monday. The crisis is comparable to that of Germany in 1923 or […]
Venezuela Thermal Plants at 25-30% of Capacity
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 23.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s thermal generation plants in Caracas are only operating at 25% to 30% of capacity, and units 7, 8 and 9 of the Tacoa plant in Vargas state are halted due to damage. The situation in other parts of this OPEC country, such […]
Ex-Venezuelan Energy Official Pleads Guilty
(AP, 20.Jul.2018) – A former official at a state-run electric company in Caracas, Venezuela, pleaded guilty on Monday to money laundering conspiracy relating to an alleged multibillion-dollar graft scheme in the Venezuelan oil industry. Luis Carlos de Leon-Perez, a 42-year-old dual citizen of the United States and Venezuela, admitted his […]
Venezuela Facing ‘Economic Collapse’, IMF Warns
(AFP, 18.Jul.2018) – Venezuela is in a state of “economic collapse” with hyperinflation not seen since the middle of the last century, the International Monetary Fund said Monday. Despite higher oil prices that are benefiting most exporting nations, the IMF sees a worsening contraction of the economy, which in April […]
U.S. Revokes Visa of Citgo CEO
(Bloomberg, Lucia Kassai and Fabiola Zerpa, 18.Jul.2018) – Being a blood relative of Hugo Chavez used to open doors. Now Asdrubal Chavez, cousin of the late Venezuelan socialist leader, is finding out it can close some as well. In the most recent blow against Venezuela, the U.S. revoked the visa […]
Venezuela Claims It Plans To Raise Oil Production
(OilPrice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 17.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo has discussed plans with state-held oil company PDVSA to raise the country’s crude oil production in the second half of the year. While Venezuela and its struggling oil firm claim that they are revising their production planning in order to […]
Why Is Venezuela Still Sending Subsidized Oil To Cuba?
(OilPrice.com, Haley Zaremba, 17.Jul.2018) – In the past, oil has accounted for 96 percent of Venezuela’s exports and over 40 percent of government revenues. Now, as the nation’s economy continues to crumble amid sanctions, political strife, and low oil prices, the Venezuela’s all-important oil production is plummeting. In fact, last […]
How Venezuela Struck It Poor
(Foreign Policy, 16.Jul.2018) — The tragic — and totally avoidable — self-destruction of one of the world’s richest oil economies. In the spring of 1959, at a secretive meeting at a yacht club in Cairo, Venezuela’s then-minister of mines and hydrocarbons, Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, hatched a plan to give […]
Venezuela’s Maduro Introduces Petro in Turkey
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 14.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro introduced ‘el petro’ during a presentation in Turkey. Maduro reiterated that the Petro crypto-currency is based or backed by an entire block located in Hugo Chavez Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, or the Faja, which contains more than five billion […]
Venezuela, Turkey Discuss Oil Supply
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 14.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro announced the two countries could soon sign a new oil agreement. “A new agreement thereon shall be signed pretty soon,” reported PDVSA in an official statement, citing Maduro. No specifics were provided in the statement. ***
Machado Says Venezuela “Show Can’t Go On”
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 13.Jul.2018) – Opposition leader María Corina Machado said the “show can’t go on” during a video broadcast from Punto Fijo. The leader’s video in reaction to a recent oil spill at PDVSA that the state oil company blamed on workers. El “show” NO PUEDE continuar. […]
FDI in LAC Region Falls for Third Straight Year
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 12.Jul.2018) – Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Latin America and the Caribbean fell for a third straight year in 2017, reported the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean or CEPAL by its Spanish acronym. The details were revealed in CEPAL’s annual report titled […]
No End In Sight For Venezuela’s Oil Crisis
(OilPrice.com, Nick Cunningham, 12.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s oil production plunged by another 47,500 barrels per day (bpd) in June, compared to a month earlier. An exodus of workers and field shut downs were reported for the month, pointing to a grim near-term future that could see total production dip below 1 […]
The Caracas Metro: Still Standing For Now
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 11.Jul.2018) – The subway system serving the Venezuelan capital is on the verge of collapse due to lackluster maintenance amid ongoing economic, political and humanitarian crises. Daily occurrences now include but are not limited to: armed robberies, shootings, petty thefts, fights, and of course power […]
PDVSA Gas Replaces Section of Gas Pipeline
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 11.Jul.2018) – PDVSA Gas announced completion of work on the Cariaco-Margarita Wharf section of the Northeast G / J Gas José Francisco Bermúdez pipeline. Work on the section entailed removing and replacing a 48 meter long section of the 16-inch diameter pipeline that transports natural […]
Ecuador, Venezuela Output Down, OPEC Reports
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 11.Jul.2018) – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries published its July 2018 edition of its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR). Crude oil production from Ecuador and Venezuela — the lone countries from Latin America to be members of OPEC — fell this month (see charts). […]
Jusepín Oil Spill Demonstrates PDVSA Safety Failures
(Maritime Herald, 9.Jul.2018) – The oil spill that occurred this Friday, July 6 in two tanks of the secondary recovery plant of the Jusepín Operational Complex of Pdvsa, demonstrates the safety failures of the Venezuelan state industry. This is what the biologist, Alejandro Álvarez Iragorry, considers that what happened for […]
Quevedo Prays for Higher Venezuelan Output
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 8.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s Oil Minister General Manuel Quevedo prayed to God in search of divine assistance to boost Venezuela’s oil production. The prayer was made by Quevedo during his participation in a special mass held at the headquarters of PDVSA and Venezuela’s Oil Ministry in […]
China Gives New Life to Venezuela Despite US’ Ire
(Sputnik News, 5.Jul.2018) – China is lending its helping hand to Venezuela to stabilize the country’s oil sector, analysts told Sputnik, adding that Beijing’s economic activities in Latin America are apparently getting on Washington’s nerves. China is about to breathe new life into Venezuela’s collapsing oil sector regardless of Washington’s […]
PetroVictoria Producing 10,000 b/d
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 5.Jul.2018) – The heavy oil project is currently producing 10,000 barrels per day, according to PDVSA. PetroVictoria, is a joint venture comprised of Venezuela’s PDVSA and Russia’s Rosneft to develop heavy oil reserves in Venezuela as part of the Carabobo-2/4 project. In May 2013, Rosneft […]
PDVSA Installs Two Heavy Oil Desalters
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 5.Jul.2018) – The land transfer of two from Bolívar to Anzoátegui states, for oil crude desalination has successfully been completed. The main function of both desalination plants is the subtraction of water and salt contained in heavy oil crude. The two mega-structures were constructed with […]
China to Invest $250 mln to Boost Venezuela’s Oil Sector
(Bloomberg, 4.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s distressed oil sector may get some much needed financing from China, Finance Minister Simon Zerpa said after meetings with officials from China Development Bank and China National Petroleum Corporation. China Development Bank will invest more than US$250 million to boost Venezuela oil production in the Orinoco […]
Venezuela’s Declining Crude Exports Squeeze India’s Refiners
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 3.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s crude shipments to India, its third largest export market, fell 21 percent in the first half of the year, according to internal documents from state-run PDVSA, adding to supply troubles for Indian refiners as they are increasingly pressed to diversify oil imports. Venezuela’s production […]
China Throws Venezuela’s Oil Industry $5B Lifeline
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav) – China’s Development Bank has approved a US$5-billion loan for Venezuela’s oil industry, Bloomberg reports, quoting the troubled South American country’s Finance Minister Simon Zerpa. “We’ve received the authorization for a direct investment of more than $250 million from China Development Bank to increase PDVSA production, and […]
Venezuela to Get $250 mln from China
(Reuters, 3.Jul.2018) – Venezuela will receive $250 million from the China Development Bank to boost the OPEC nation’s oil production, the South American country’s Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. ***
Petrozamora Incorporates Steam Generators in Zulia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 3.Jul.2018) – PDVSA Petrozamora, a joint venture comprised of PDVSA and Russia’s Gazprom, completed recovery and incorporation of two steam generators. The generators, Simón Bolívar 24 (SB-24) and Simón Bolívar 40 (SB-40), are located in located in the state Zulia at the Lagunillas Field in […]
PetroPiar Ends Preventative Maintenance
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 3.Jul.2018) – Work on the upgrader concluded four days ahead of schedule, according to Caracas-based PDVSA. Operational activities at the upgrader included substitutions in the naphtha and light vacuum gas oil (LVGO) lines, maintenance of interchangers, internal drum replacements (Demister), and replacements related to the […]
Trinidad, Venezuela Near Gas Sales, Export Agreement
(TeleSur, 29.Jun.2018) — The government of Trinidad and Tobago is projecting that a gas sales agreement with Venezuela will be finalized, signed and ready to be implemented by July 16. “We have finally narrowed down all of the terms and conditions, and we’re outstanding on one item, and we’re supposed […]
Venezuela’s Oil Ministry Has New Website
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 29.Jun.2018) – Venezuela’s Oil Ministry launched its new website and promotional video regarding the same. 🇻🇪🌐 #WEB | Desde @MinPetroleoVE te invitamos a conocer la actualidad petrolera y energética en nuestra nueva página web 📲🖥️🖱️ https://t.co/BbKhLeo1zx pic.twitter.com/JyOCwc1eab — Min. PP Petróleo (@MinPetroleoVE) June 29, 2018 […]
Venezuela, Trinidad Review Joint Projects
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 29.Jun.2018) – A delegation from Trinidad & Tobago traveled to Venezuela to discuss joint projects and gas related issues. The meetings were aimed at guarantying the supply of Venezuelan natural gas to the Trinidad & Tobago domestic market, announced PDVSA in an official statement. The […]
Citgo Appoints Aruba Refinery Executives
(Reuters, 28.Jun.2018) – Citgo Petroleum, the U.S. refining arm of Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, said it appointed two senior executives to new positions as it works to refurbish an idled Aruba refinery. Luis Marquez was named vice president and general manager at the refinery, a 235,000-barrel-per-day plant in San […]
PDVSA, Rosneft Officials Discuss Projects
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 28.Jun.2018) – Officials from both oil companies held meetings in Caracas to discuss partnerships. PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo, who also serves as Venezuela’s Oil Minister, conducted a meeting with Rosneft Vice President Didier Casimiro to discuss joint projects between the Venezuelan and Russian companies, respectively, […]
PDVSA, Reliance Discuss Trade Opportunities
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 28.Jun.2018) – Officials from PDVSA and Reliance assess new trade opportunities. PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo met with a delegation headed by Jayaraman Rajamaran, President and Head – Physical Trading – Crude/Oil Products Refining & Marketing at Reliance Industries Ltd. Reliance – owner of Jamnagar refinery, […]