(Bloomberg, Christopher Sell, 20.Sep.2018) â A global recession, both $140 and $30 oil, the U.S. shale revolution, a market-share war, and output cuts. OPECâs 60-year history has rarely confronted a more challenging period than the past decade. Now, instead of enjoying the higher prices resulting from 18 months of joint […]
Category: USA
YPF Announce Settlement Of Previously Announced Tender Offer
(YPF, 18.Sep.2018) â YPF S.A. announced settlement of the previously announced tender offer to purchase for cash any and all of its outstanding 8.875% Senior Notes due 2018. The Tender Offer expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 17, 2018. At the Expiration Date, valid tenders […]
The Latest Episode in the Crystallex-Venezuela Saga
(Mining.com, Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, 29.Aug.2018) â State-owned PetrĂłleos de Venezuela SA or PDVSA announced on Twitter that it filed an appeal requesting that a Delaware court vacate a decision made public on August 23 granting Canadian miner Crystallex the right to seize its U.S. assets. In its statement, the oil […]
CITGO Awards Grant, Continues Restoration Work
(Citgo, 29.Aug.2018) â Through the CITGO Caring for Our Coast initiative, a program designed to boost ecological conservation, restoration and education, The Conservation Foundation (TCF) has been awarded a grant to continue its restoration work in the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area (HQRA) in Lemont. In partnership with TCF and the […]
AMLO Says NAFTA Preserves Energy ‘Sovereignty’
(Reuters, 28.Aug.2018) â Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed a deal between Mexico and the U.S. to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that he said preserved Mexican âsovereigntyâ in the energy sector. The U.S.-Mexico deal was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Aug. 27, putting […]
Big Oil Asks Gov’t to Protect it from Climate Change
(AP) â As the United States plans new defences against the more powerful storms and higher tides expected from climate change, one project stands out: an ambitious proposal to build a nearly 60-mile ‘spine’ of concrete seawalls, earthen barriers, floating gates and steel levees on the Texas Gulf Coast. Like […]
Gas Producers Counting on Mexico Have Worries
(Houston Chronicle, Katherine Blunt, 24.Aug.2018) â For years, U.S. producers have counted on Mexico to buy enormous quantities of natural gas from the prolific shale fields in West Texas and elsewhere. The fracking boom has given rise to massive pipeline projects to carry that gas across the border, where energy […]
Exec Pleads in $1.2 Bln Venezuelan Money-Laundering scheme
(AP, 22.Aug.2018) â A former Swiss bank executive has pleaded guilty to his role in a $1.2 billion money-laundering scheme involving Venezuela’s state-run oil and natural gas company. Federal court records show that 44-year-old Matthias Krull pleaded guilty in Miami federal court on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering. […]
PDVSA and ConocoPhillips Reach New, Positive Settlement
(Citgo, 21.Aug.2018) â As officially reported by PetrĂłleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and ConocoPhillips, the two companies recently reached a settlement agreement resulting from the nationalization of the Hamaca and Petrozuata projects in 2007. As background, ConocoPhillips initiated arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), demanding that PDVSA pay […]
Venezuela Agrees to Pay $2 Bln Over Seizure of Oil Projects
(The New York Times, Clifford Krauss, 20.Aug.2018) â More than a decade ago, Venezuela seized several oil projects from the American oil company ConocoPhillips without compensation. Now, under pressure after ConocoPhillips carried out its own seizures, the Venezuelans are going to make amends. ConocoPhillips announced on Monday that the state […]
U.S.’s Perry Applauds Mexico’s Plan to End Fuel Imports
(Reuters, David Alire Garcia, 16.Aug.2018) â U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry praised the goal set out by Mexicoâs incoming president to end massive gasoline and diesel imports, nearly all of which come from the United States, as a measure that will boost prosperity in its southern neighbor. During a visit […]
Guyana to Become 5th Largest Oil Producer in LAC Region
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 15.Aug.2018) â If all goes off as planned, by 2025, Guyana will be the 5th largest oil producer in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Thatâs according to an analysis of data posted by Trading Economics, and extrapolation of estimates of Guyanaâs future oil production, […]
Technology, New Innovations and the LatAm Energy Sector
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 14.Aug.2018) â The ability to use hydraulic fracturing to tap shale formations, to remotely monitor and manage assets, and use advanced technology to heat reservoirs, are a few of the many new innovations used in the capital intense hydrocarbon sector. Faced with rising competition […]
Mexico’s Fuel Plan Won’t Immediately Impact Texas
(Texas Tribune, Juan Luis GarcĂa HernĂĄndez, 14.Aug.2018) â After a dramatic spike in gasoline prices incited widespread protests in Mexico last year, then-presidential candidate AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador made a promise that caught the attention of Texas officials and the stateâs oil and gas industry: The veteran left-wing politician vowed, […]
SeaOne Caribbean Fuel Project Recognized as Strategic
(SeaOne Caribbean, 13.Aug.2018) â SeaOne Caribbean, LLC, which is developing the Caribbean and Central American Fuels Supply Project for natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGLs) delivery, announced that CG/LA Infrastructure has recognized SeaOne’s project as the region’s Top Strategic Infrastructure Project for 2018. The award was handed out at […]
Venezuela’s Citgo Refineries At Risk Of Seizure
(Forbes, Robert Rapie, 12.Aug.2018) â In 2007, following Venezuela’s expropriation of billions of dollars of assets from U.S. companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, I suggested a potential remedy. Since Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA (PetrĂłleos de Venezuela, S.A.) owns the Citgo refineries in the U.S., I felt the companies that […]
Citgo Petroleum Company Profile
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 11.Aug2018) â Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation is the refining arm of Venezuelaâs PetrĂłleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). What follows is a brief company profile. Citgo, a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Houston, refines, markets, and transports gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemicals, and other […]
World Bank Says Oil To Average $65 in 2019
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 12.Aug2018) â The World Bank expects the price of oil to average $65 per barrel in 2019. âOil prices are expected to average $65 per barrel in 2019. While projections indicate that prices will fall from their April 2018 level, they should be supported by […]
Crystallex Cuts Others In Line for Citgo Assets
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 11.Aug.2018) â Crystallex seems to have cut in line while there are many others already in line for CITGO assets and value. What follows are comments published by Venezuelan oil analyst Francisco Monaldi in a series of tweets related to the legal battle over CITGO: […]
Two Companies to Ship Fuels from US to Mexico
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 11.Aug.2018) â To-date, two oil companies are working to export fuels from the U.S.A. to neighboring Mexico, through the Port of Brownsville. âOur main client is P.M.I. Comercio Internacional, a subsidiary of Pemex, thatâs dedicated to the import and export of hydrocarbons,â reported the daily […]
Crystallex Wins Right To Tap Citgo For Compensation
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav, 10.Aug.2018) â Canadian gold miner Crystallex was ruled the winner in a long-running case against Venezuela, which it has sued for the forced nationalization of its assets by the Hugo Chavez government. A U.S. federal judge this week awarded the miner the right to approach Venezuelaâs U.S. […]
PDVSA Appeals Ruling Regarding Citgo Seizure
(AFP, 10.Aug.2018) â Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA on Friday appealed a US court ruling that would allow a Canadian mining company to seize shares of PDVSA’s US-subsidiary Citgo in payment of a $1.2 billion debt. The case dates from 2011, when the Venezuelan government seized a mine Crystallex had […]
Analysts: Only a Matter of Time Before Venezuela Loses Citgo
(Houston Chronicle, Jordan Blum, 10.Aug.2018) â Financially crippled Venezuela likely will lose control of its Houston refining arm Citgo Petroleum once a slew of lawsuits eventually are resolved, and it’s just a matter of when and to whom, finance and energy analysts said Friday. A federal judge ruled late Thursday […]
U.S. Judge Authorizes Seizure of Venezuelaâs Citgo
(The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Scurria and Julie Wernau, 9.Aug.2018) â A U.S. federal judge authorized the seizure of Citgo Petroleum Corp. to satisfy a Venezuelan government debt, a ruling that could set off a scramble among Venezuelaâs many unpaid creditors to wrest control of its only obviously seizable U.S. […]
Mexicoâs CNH to Speak at EnerCom Conference
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 9.Aug2018) â The 23rd annual EnerCom conference will take place in the Denver Downtown Westin Hotel on Aug. 19-22, 2018. Companies with exposure to Latin America that will participate in special panels during the event include the following: Oil & Gas in Mexico Panel — […]
Crystallex Can Go After Venezuela’s US Refineries
(Associated Press, 9.Aug.2018) â A Canadian gold mining company on Thursday won the right to go after Venezuela’s prized U.S.-based oil refineries and collect $1.4 billion it lost in a decade-old take-over by the late socialist President Hugo Chavez. Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark of the U.S. Federal District Court […]
ShaleWolf Capital Sees Oil Prices Above $110 by 2019
(ShaleWolf Capital, 9.Aug.2018) â On June 22nd, 2018 President Donald Trump asked OPEC to increase its daily oil output by 1 million barrels. Industry experts would agree that OPEC is at or near its full production capacity. OPEC can’t just increase production. As demand continues to grow the world is […]
Sempra Energy Forms North American Infrastructure Group
(Sempra Energy, 8.Aug.2018) â Sempra Energy formed a new operating group for its North American infrastructure businesses and named Carlos Ruiz SacristĂĄn chairman and CEO of the group, Sempra North American Infrastructure. Ruiz has served as chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy’s Mexican operating subsidiary, Infraestructura EnergĂ©tica Nova, S.A.B. de […]
Unsealing Crystallex/PDVSA Documents
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 8.Aug.2018) â Chief Judge Stark of the US Federal District Court in Delaware immediately agreed with our arguments calling out the abuse of sealing by Crystallex, Venezuela and PDVSA, writes Caracas Capital Markets Managing Partner Russ Dallen in an emailed note to clients. He entered […]
The Weirdest Oil Lawsuit Of 2018
(OilPrice.com, Viktor Katona, 6.Aug.2018) â Rosneft has been rocking the Russian oil sector for quite some time already â first it acquired several domestic assets, in some cases bordering on hostile takeover, then it took on a couple of international commitments in Iraqi Kurdistan and Venezuela and secured hefty tax […]
Citgo Raises $$750,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Association
(Citgo Petroleum Corporation, 31.Jul.2018) â 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, […]
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) â 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. […]
EIA Beta Interactive Data Analysis
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 26.Jul.2018) â 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 […]
Former Cerro Negro Workers Still Seek Payment
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 23.Jul.2018) â It has been 11 years and the 7,000 direct and indirect Venezuelan workers of US oil company Exxon Mobil still havenât received their social benefits or other liquidations. Those payment were assumed by the government of late Venezuelan President Hugo ChĂĄvez when his […]
U.S. Revokes Visa of Citgo CEO
(Bloomberg, Lucia Kassai and Fabiola Zerpa, 18.Jul.2018) â 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 […]
Ex-Venezuelan Energy Official Pleads Guilty
(AP, 16.Jul.2018) â A former official at a state-run electric company in Caracas, Venezuela, pleaded guilty 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 role in […]
US to Become World’s Top Oil Producer
(AP, 15.Jul.2018) â The United States has nosed ahead of Saudi Arabia and is on pace to surpass Russia to become the world’s biggest oil producer for the first time in more than four decades. The latest forecast from the US Energy Information Administration predicts that US output will grow […]
Eni Hat-trick at Mackenzie’s Annual Awards
(Wood Mackenzie, 12.Jul.2018) â Italian major Eni won its third consecutive Most-Admired Explorer title, an accolade awarded in conjunction with Wood Mackenzie’s industry-leading annual Exploration Survey. Eni’s chief exploration officer, Luca Bertelli, accepted the award â which Eni has won for three years in a row â at the inaugural […]
IEnova to Spend $150 Mln on Mexican Terminal
(San Diego Union Tribune, Rob Nikolewski, 9.Jul.2018) â Continuing its aggressive corporate strategy, IEnova â the Mexican subsidiary of San Diego-based Sempra Energy â added another asset to its energy portfolio Monday by announcing it will spend $150 million to build and operate a liquid fuels marine terminal in the […]
US$1.4B Deal to Restart St Croix Refinery
(Stabroek News, 3.Jun.2018) â U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth E. Mapp announced yesterday an agreement which would reopen one of the worldâs largest refineries, create hundreds of jobs in the territory and buttress the solvency of the Government Employees Retirement System (GERS). According to a release from his office, Mapp […]
World Bank Sees $65/bbl Oil for 2019
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 3.July.2018) â The price of crude oil is forecast to approach around $65/barrel in 2019 by the organization. However, the oil price levels next year are expected to be lower that levels in 2018, reported the daily newspaper El Diario, citing World Bank Economist Shantayanan […]
DOE Assists with $1B Investment in Mexico
(Natural Gas Intelligence, 28.Jun.2018) â Citing a “profound opportunity in Latin America,” Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry said the U.S. government would partner with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and invest $1 billion in Mexico’s energy sector over the next three years. The joint initiative, officially the […]
Citgo Appoints Aruba Refinery Executives
(Reuters, 28.Jun.2018) â Citgo Petroleum, the U.S. refining arm of Venezuelaâs 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 […]
Linking Permian, Eagle Ford to Monterrey
(Natural Gas Intelligence, Carolyn Davis, 27.Jun.2018) â The mantra for a San Antonio, TX-based midstream operator, whose portfolio is increasingly weighted to southern destinations, could well be whatâs good for Texas is good for Mexico. Howard Midstream Energy Partners LLC, aka Howard Energy Partners (HEP), is making inroads in the […]
Why Are Oil Prices Rising?
(Wall Street Journal, 26.Jun.2018) â Rising oil prices are not good for consumers, or for President Trump’s administration. The Wall Street Journal‘s Gerald F. Seib explains the rise in oil prices. ***
Gulf Of Mexico Production To Hit Record High
(OilPrice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 24.Jun.2018) â While the U.S. shale production in the Permian has been grabbing most of the market and media attention over the past two years, the Gulf of Mexico has been quietly staging a comeback. Big Oil firms, the main operators in the Gulf of Mexico, have […]
Kinder Considers More NatGas Takeaway to Mexico
(Natural Gas Intelligence, Carolyn Davis, 22.Jun.2018) â The Permian Basinâs growing natural gas volumes may provide the perfect aperitif to quench Mexicoâs thirst, according to Kinder Morgan Inc. The Houston-based pipeline and midstream giantâs natural gas segment makes up about 90% of $900 million worth of projects that were added […]
EIA Publishes Updated Venezuela Country Report
(EIA, 21.Jun.2018) â Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, in large part because of the heavy oil reserves in the Orinoco Oil Basin. In addition to oil reserves, Venezuela has sizeable natural gas reserves, although the development of natural gas lags significantly behind that of oil, reported […]
Oil Prices Expected to Rise
(FinancialBuzz.com, 19.Jun.2018) â Despite the recent downturn in oil prices, Goldman Sachs remains optimistic. According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs forecast a tighter oil market for a longer duration due to strong demand growth and the probability that rising supply disruptions could counter any increase in OPEC production. “Our updated global […]