(Houston Chronicle, Sergio Chapa, Staff writer 30.Nov.2018) — New rules allowing a greater number of liquefied natural gas tankers to pass through the Panama Canal per day are expected to boost the development of the multibillion dollar industry along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The rules went into effect in October. […]
Category: USA
Shale Gluts, Ship Rules Make Heavy Sweet Oil An Unlikely Star
(Bloomberg, Serene Cheong and Dan Murtaugh, (30.Nov.2018) — There’s a rising star in the oil world, and it’s heavy and sweet. Dense, low-sulfur oil, known in industry parlance as heavy sweet crude, is fetching increasingly stronger prices relative to benchmark lighter grades. For example, Angola’s Dalia traded at just 10 […]
Time For Texas To Share Renewable Energy Expertise With Mexico
(Caller Times, Carlos Torres-Verdin, 28.Nov.2018) — Ignore the incendiary rhetoric coming out of Washington D.C., the new political climate south of the border has never been more favorable, especially toward green energy providers. And the U.S., Mexico and ultimately Texas, have a lot to gain through greater and mutually beneficial […]
Venezuela Makes Multimillion-dollar Payment To Retain Citgo
(Houston Business Journal, Olivia Pulsinelli, 28.Nov.2018) — Houston-based refiner Citgo Holding Inc. will remain owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, if PDVSA follows through with the terms of a settlement. According to multiple reports, the settlement will resolve an arbitration claim from Crystallex International Corp., a […]
$1.4 Billion Deal Allows Venezuela To Keep Citgo’s Three U.S. refineries
(Houston Chronicle, Sergio Chapa, 26.Nov.2018) — A payment on a $1.4 billion arbitration award to a Canadian gold mining company is allowing Venezuela to keep ownership of Citgo Petroleum’s three U.S. refineries — at least through January. The Venezuelan government recently paid Toronto-based Crystallex International Corp. $425 million as part […]
Venezuela Hangs On To Citgo After Big Debt Payment
(Fox Business, Mike Obel, 26.Nov.2018) — Venezuela managed to retain ownership of Citgo, the big U.S. refining and gasoline marketing company that is one of its few remaining sources of hard currency, according to a report. In August, Canadian mining company Crystallex International got a court order authorizing the sale […]
LatAmNRG Chart Analysis: Venezuela’s R/P Rises As Oil Output Plunges
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 24.Nov. 2018) — Venezuela is suffering a complete meltdown across all sectors. The Venezuelan oil sector, which generates upwards to 95% of the country’s foreign currency revenues, is in a precarious state to say the least as oil output continues its downward trend. Interesting […]
Argentina’s Energy Sec. Iguacel Promotes Vaca Muerta In US Road Show
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 13.Nov.2018) — Argentina’s Energy Secretary Javier Iguacel participated in the annual Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPPA) meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana. “We have a great opportunity to give Argentine citizens plenty of energy and at affordable prices. We are very happy because today […]
Argentina Initiates U.S. ‘Vaca Muerta’ Road Show
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 12.Nov.2018) — Officials from Argentina initiated a road show today in the U.S. aimed at attracting investments in the Vaca Muerta formation in Neuquen. Argentina’s Energy Secretary Javier Iguacel, along with officials and representatives from more than 30 oil companies, plan to participate in the […]
Chevron Stayed In Venezuela Long After Rivals Quit
(Wall Street Journal, Kejal Vyas and Bradley Olson, 8.Nov.2018) — For nearly a century, Chevron Corp. has weathered dictatorships, coups and nationalization drives to keep pumping oil in Venezuela. But recently, executives at the last U.S. oil major in the country have debated whether it may be time to get out, […]
Argentina Biodiesel Chamber: U.S. Review Of Tariffs Could Revive Exports
(Reuters, Maximilian Heath, 8.Nov.2018) — The U.S. decision to review its tariffs on Argentine biodiesel could mean a reversal of fortune for exporters whose shipments from the South American country have been practically nil, the biodiesel chamber of Argentina said on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday […]
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 biggest oil discoveries of the last decade, the so-called Stabroek Block with an estimated 4 billion barrels of crude. It […]
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 community for a day of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, exhibits and activities. With more than 25,000 attendees […]
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 pivotal role in a $1.2 billion money-laundering racket that U.S. authorities say was run by some of the country’s wealthiest […]
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, or PdVSA. Ivan Alexis Guedez, a former PdVSA procurement officer from Katy, Texas, pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy charge. […]
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 now facing transportation constraints to secure similar grades from Canada, data shows. The situation reflects an unusual set of events, […]
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 US-China trade spat, one bond — in crisis-racked Venezuela of all places — has rallied to record highs. The 2020 […]
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 CITGO Innovation Academy established in the Corpus Christi region and the seventh Innovation Academy established in the CITGO operational footprint. […]
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 in that country. But at the same time, he steadfastly refuses to cut U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil, which are […]
Petrobras, Murphy Oil Create US Gulf Joint Venture
(S&P Global Platts, 11.Oct.2018) — Brazilian state-led oil company Petrobras and Murphy Oil will combine production assets in the US Gulf of Mexico in a joint venture that will produce about 75,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day in the fourth quarter of 2018. “The joint venture will be formed by the […]
Why Murphy Oil Corporation’s Stock Is Soaring Today
(The Motley Fool, Matthew DiLallo, 11.Oct.2018) — The oil company made a needle-moving deal. What happened Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation took off on Thursday, rising more than 12% by 10:30 a.m. EDT after the company agreed to form a strategic joint venture (JV) with Petrobras in the Gulf of […]
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 arm of Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA, and Valero Energy, according to Refinitiv Eikon trade flows data. A collision in August at […]
Petrobras Bondholders Exchange $8.9 Bln Notes for Identical Paper
(Reuters, 21.Sep.2018) — Bondholders in Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA have accepted the exchange of about $8.9 billion of unregistered notes for identical paper registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said in a Friday securities filing. Of $3.76 billion in 5.299 percent notes maturing […]
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 more challenging period than the past decade. Now, instead of enjoying the higher prices resulting from 18 months of joint […]
YPF Announce Settlement Of Previously Announced Tender Offer
(YPF, 18.Sep.2018) — 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) — State-owned Petróleos 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) — 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) — 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 “sovereignty” 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) — 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) — 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) — 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) — As officially reported by Petróleos 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) – 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) – U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry praised the goal set out by Mexico’s 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) – If all goes off as planned, by 2025, Guyana will be the 5th largest oil producer in the Latin American and Caribbean region. That’s according to an analysis of data posted by Trading Economics, and extrapolation of estimates of Guyana’s future oil production, […]
Technology, New Innovations and the LatAm Energy Sector
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 14.Aug.2018) – 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 García Hernández, 14.Aug.2018) – After a dramatic spike in gasoline prices incited widespread protests in Mexico last year, then-presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador made a promise that caught the attention of Texas officials and the state’s oil and gas industry: The veteran left-wing politician vowed, […]
SeaOne Caribbean Fuel Project Recognized as Strategic
(SeaOne Caribbean, 13.Aug.2018) – 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) – 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 (Petróleos 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) – Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation is the refining arm of Venezuela’s Petróleos 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) – The World Bank expects the price of oil to average $65 per barrel in 2019. “Oil 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) – 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) – To-date, two oil companies are working to export fuels from the U.S.A. to neighboring Mexico, through the Port of Brownsville. “Our main client is P.M.I. Comercio Internacional, a subsidiary of Pemex, that’s dedicated to the import and export of hydrocarbons,” reported the daily […]
Crystallex Wins Right To Tap Citgo For Compensation
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav, 10.Aug.2018) – 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 Venezuela’s U.S. […]
PDVSA Appeals Ruling Regarding Citgo Seizure
(AFP, 10.Aug.2018) – 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) – 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 Venezuela’s Citgo
(The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Scurria and Julie Wernau, 9.Aug.2018) – 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 Venezuela’s many unpaid creditors to wrest control of its only obviously seizable U.S. […]
Mexico’s CNH to Speak at EnerCom Conference
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 9.Aug2018) – 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 — […]