Editores LatinPetroleum

Petrobras Finds Oil At Campos Basin Well

(Petrobras, 23.Sep.2020) — Petrobras found the presence of hydrocarbons in the pioneer well of block C-M-657, located in the pre-salt of the Campos Basin. Well 1-BRSA-1376D-RJS (Naru) is located approximately 308 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro, in water depth of 2,892 meters, being verified the presence of […]

Ecopetrol Launches Fields In ‘Ronda Campos 2020’

(Energy Analytics Institute, 23.Sep.2020) — Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol announced launch of ‘Ronda Campos 2020’ with nine fields with aim to contribute to reactivation of the South American country’s oil sector as well as regional economies. The auction will take place in the fourth quarter of 2020. “This round […]

Venezuela Producing 345,000 B/D: Oil Official Freites Says

(Energy Analytics Institute, 23.Sep.2020) — Crude oil production in Venezuela, home to arguably the world’s largest oil reserves, has fallen to around 345,000 barrels per day (b/d), according to comments from oil union official Ivan R. Freites. Venezuela’s production is down from around 3.3 million barrels per day (MMb/d) in […]

US Treasury Updates Venezuela, Iran Designations

(Energy Analytics Institute, 22.Sep.2020) — The US Department of Treasury released details regarding Venezuela-related designations as well as providing a designation update. Treasury also provided an Iran-related designation update. The following individuals have been added to OFAC’s SDN List: BENAVIDES RONDON, Williams Jose, Venezuela; DOB 04 Apr 1981; POB Guanipa, […]

Empresa Eléctrica Angamos SpA Announces Early Tender

(Angamos, 22.Sep.2020) — Empresa Eléctrica Angamos SpA announced early tender results of its offer to purchase for cash any and all of its outstanding 4.875% senior secured notes due 2029 and Extension of the early tender premium. — early results of the previously announced offer to purchase for cash (the […]

Bayón Says Unconventionals Not The Only Option

Ecopetrol’ CEO Felipe Bayón said unconventionals were a very important option for Colombia since they allowed the country to boost its oil and gas reserves-to-production ratios while generating benefits for many regions such as employment, and goods and services. But he added: “In terms energy security, unconventionals are very important but they’re not the only option.”

Petrobras On Secondary Public Offer

(Petrobras, 22.Sep.2020) — Petrobras, in relation to the news published in the media, reiterates that it has not yet been defined the moment to launch the secondary public offer (follow on) aimed at the sale of the entirety of its remaining 37.5% stake in the capital stock of Petrobras Distribuidora […]

Shell And Microsoft Join Up On Carbon Emissions

(Shell, 22.Sep.2020) — Shell International Petroleum Company Limited and Microsoft Corporation, building on a history of three decades of working together, are embarking on a new strategic alliance to support progress towards a world with net-zero emissions. This builds on the strong foundation of decades of technology collaboration between the […]

Ex-Vitol Trader Indicted In US Probe Of Ecuador Bribes

(Bloomberg, 22.Sep.2020) — A former manager at Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent oil-trading firm, was indicted for allegedly bribing Ecuadorian government officials to get business for his firm with state-owned Petroecuador. The case, part of a broad U.S. probe into bribes paid to South American officials, is the latest […]

Petrobras Receives Two Proposals For Repar

(Petrobras, 21.Sep.2020) — Petrobras, in relation to the news published in the media, referring to the divestment of the Presidente Getúlio Vargas Refinery (Repar), clarifies that the binding stage of the competitive process counts with the participation of Ultrapar Participações S.A., the consortium led by Raízen S.A. and China Petroleum […]

FSRU Experience Breaks Send-Out Record

(Execelerate Energy, 21.Sep.2020) — On 16 September 2020, Excelerate Energy successfully reached a send-out capacity of 1.06 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas on its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Experience – an industry record. The operation was completed during a performance test at the Guanabara Bay liquefied […]

Investors Pull Plug On Argentina’s Prized Shale Play

(Oilprice.com, 19.Sep.2020) — Much ink has been spilled about the downfall and dubious recovery of the United States shale oil sector. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude benchmark’s dramatic rock bottom in April, which saw oil prices plunge to nearly $40 dollars below zero in a jaw-dropping first, a flurry […]

Petrobras Prepares For Competitive Markets

(Petrobras, 18.Sep.2020) — Petrobras launched two programs aimed at preparing its refining and natural gas activities for an open, competitive market and to transition into a low carbon economy. Biorefino 2030 forecasts projects for the generation of new, more modern and sustainable fuel, different than the current ones, such as […]

Enel X Enters US Public Transit Market

(Enel X, 18.Sep.2020) — Enel X, the Enel Group’s advanced energy services business line, announced it has been awarded two grants by the Accelerating Clean Transportation Now (ACTNow) program through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). The grants will support the development of public transportation electrification in the Commonwealth and […]

China Slams Pompeo For ‘Arrogance’ On LatAm Tour

(Reuters, 18.Sep.2020) — China’s embassy to Suriname on Friday accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of “smearing” Beijing, after Washington’s top diplomat critiqued Chinese companies’ business practices during the first stop on a four-country South America tour. In a joint appearance with newly elected Surinamese President Chan Santokhi on […]

China On Pompeo’s Remarks On China

(Chinese Embassy in Guyana, 18.Sep.2020) — The US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo made again some erroneous remarks on China during his visit to Guyana, to which we strongly oppose. To ensure a correct understanding of facts, I would like to reiterate the following: First, Taiwan is an inalienable […]

Trinidad To Inspect Venezuela Oil Storage Vessel

(Argus, 18.Sep.2020) — Trinidad and Tobago is concluding arrangements with Venezuela to allow its inspectors to access a damaged oil storage vessel in the Gulf of Paria, the Caribbean state’s energy ministry told Argus. The inspection of the Venezuela-flagged Nabarima is meant to “independently verify reports that the vessel has […]

Petrobras CEO Says 11,000 Employees To Leave Co.

(Reuters, 17.Sep.2020) — Approximately 11,000 employees of Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras have accepted buyout packages and will leave the firm this year or next, Chief Executive Roberto Castello Branco said during an online event on Thursday. That number, which represents about a quarter of the company’s workforce, is a […]

Petrobras Starts Teaser For Fertilizer Unit In Paraná

(Petrobras, 17.Sep.2020) — Petrobras has started the opportunity disclosure stage (teaser), referring to the sale of all its shares in the company Araucária Nitrogenados S.A. (ANSA), in the state of Paraná. The teaser, which includes key information about the opportunity, as well as the eligibility criteria for selection of potential […]

Enauta Names Decio Oddone CEO Replacing Guardado

(Reuters, 17.Sep.2020) — Decio Oddone, the former head of Brazil’s national oil regulator, will replace Lincoln Guardado as chief executive officer of oil producer Enauta Participações SA, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Enauta’s board is expected to confirm Oddone’s nomination on Monday, the oil producer said. Guardado […]

Petrobras Ends Testing At LNG Regasification Terminal

(Petrobras, 17.Sep.2020) — Petrobras successfully concluded the operation test with an flowrate of 30 MMm3/day (millions of cubic meters per day) of natural gas, held at the Guanabara Bay (TR-BGUA) liquefied natural gas regasification terminal in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the new world record for regasification with Floating Storage and […]

Europe

Equinor Inks Deal For Kollsnes MEG Upgrade

(Equior, 17.Sep.2020) — On behalf of the operator Gassco, Equinor has awarded Wood an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the MEG Upgrade project at Kollsnes. Under the EPCI contract, Wood will upgrade the MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) regeneration handling capacity at the Kollsnes gas processing plant where Equinor […]

Asia

JinkoSolar And ENEOS To Build PV Plant in Japan

(JinkoSolar, 17.Sep.2020) — JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. announced its intention to co-operate with ENEOS Corporation, Japan’s largest oil refiner, on the provision of solar modules for a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) project. For this project, JinkoSolar’s high-efficiency monocrystalline products will be deployed and installed on the roof of gas stations […]

Latin America and the Caribbean

PetroEcuador Conducts Fire Drill At Port In Manabí

(Energy Analytics Institute, 17.Sep.2020) — Personnel from EP PetroEcuador participated in a fire drill conducted in the port of Jaramijó in Manabí. __________ By Piero Stewart. © Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.

Petrobras On Track To Raise Rio’s LNG Import Capacity

(Reuters, 17.Sep.2020) — Brazil’s Petrobras PETR4.SA has successfully concluded tests that will allow for a 50% capacity expansion at its Rio de Janeiro liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal to 30 million cubic meters per day, the company said on Thursday. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, […]

US Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Arrives In Guyana

(DPI, 17.Sep.2020) — The arrival of United States (US) Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo on these shores today marks an historic development in the relationship between Guyana and the US. Mr. Pompeo was greeted by US Ambassador to Guyana, Mrs. Sarah-Ann Lynch and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International […]

US Secretary Of State To Reach Guyana Soon

(DPI, 17.Sep.2020) — The United States Secretary of State Mr. Michael Pompeo is set to arrive this evening and will be the highest-ranking sitting government official to visit Guyana since its Independence in 1966. The Secretary of State is said to be embarking on a South American tour aimed at […]

Latin America and the Caribbean

Petrobras Announces Details Of Cash Tender Offers

(Petrobras, 16.Sep.2020) — Petrobras announced the expiration and expiration date results of the previously announced offers to purchase for cash by its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Global Finance B.V. (“PGF”) of any and all of its outstanding notes of the series set forth in the table below (the “Notes” and such […]

Elliott Abrams Briefing On Iran And Venezuela

(US Department of State, 16.Sep.2020) — Special teleconference briefing with special representative for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams on developments in Iran and Venezuela. MS ORTAGUS: Thank you so much and good afternoon, everybody. I know we’re having this call right after we did the press conference with the Secretary […]

Guyana And The US: More Than 50 Years Of Friendship

(US Embassy Guyana, 16.Sep.2020) — Secretary Pompeo will travel to Georgetown, Guyana, 17-18 September 2020. He will meet with newly elected President Irfaan Ali and his cabinet, as well as CARICOM Secretary-General LaRocque. Secretary Pompeo will reinforce the promise of a values-based U.S. partnership rooted in inclusive governance, private-sector investment […]

Pompeo To Visit Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Colombia

(US State Department, 15.Sep.2020) — Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will travel to Paramaribo, Suriname; Georgetown, Guyana; Boa Vista, Brazil; Bogota, Colombia; and Plano, Texas, September 17-20, 2020.  This trip will highlight the United States’ commitment to defend democracy, combat COVID-19 while revitalizing our economies in the pandemic’s wake, and strengthen security against regional threats. […]

Morena Seeks End To Mexico’s Energy Investment

(Argus, 15.Sep.2020) — Mexico’s ruling Morena party presented a constitutional reform proposal that would roll back the historic 2014 energy reform and seek to rescind all contracts awarded to date. “The proposal seeks to reinstate the wording prior to the energy reform and without a doubt opens the door to […]

Stena Carron Arrives To Drill Tanager Prospect

(Energy Analytics Institute, 15.Sep.2020) — Ratio Guyana, an affiliate of Tel Aviv-based Ratio Petroleum, announced the arrival of the Stena Carron drillship to the Tanager prospect and the start of drilling operations, which are expected to take about three months. What follows is an update from Ratio related to its […]

PDVSA prepares to boost oil blending with condensates

(Reuters, 15.Sep.2020, Words: 492) — Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA is preparing to recover a portion of the oil output lost in recent months by boosting crude blending operations at its main producing region, the Orinoco Belt, according to sources and a company document. U.S. sanctions imposed since 2019 have deprived PDVSA […]

Venezuela’s PDVSA looks to lift oil blending

Gas Sector Dynamism Consolidated In Colombia

(Promigas, 14.Sep.2020) — The 2020 Natural Gas Sector Report presented by Promigas provides a concrete overview of Colombia in terms of reserves, investments, energy security, networks and transportation, as well as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some highlight include: — Colombia has 54 trillion cubic feet of natural gas […]

Attack On Venezuela Refineries A Playbook US Regime Change Scenario

(Sputnik, 14.Sep.2020) — In the last two years, Venezuela has thwarted a coup attempt organised by opposition leader Juan Guaido, one attempt to kidnap President Nicolas Maduro, and energy outages reportedly caused by sabotage. These events were linked by Caracas directly or indirectly to the US, which has been seeking […]

Petrobras Changes Name Of Lula Field To Tupi Field

(Petrobras, 14.Sep.2020) — Petrobras announces the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) approved the change in the name of the Lula field to Tupi field. The approval is aimed at complying with the ruling of 7 July 2020, in a citizen lawsuit, which ordered the annulment of […]

Ecopetrol Aims To Drill 100 Permian Wells By YE:21

(Reuters, 14.Sep.2020) — Colombian oil company Ecopetrol SA aims to drill a total 100 wells by end-2021 in the Permian Basin of West Texas as global oil prices recover, Chief Executive Felipe Bayon said on Monday. Global oil prices plunged to decade lows, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropping […]

Apache On Kwaskwasi-1 In Block 58 Offshore Suriname

(Apache, 14.Sep.2020) — Apache Corporation and Total S.A. provided an update to the technical evaluation of the Kwaskwasi-1 discovery well offshore Suriname. As previously announced, Kwaskwasi-1 discovered hydrocarbons in multiple stacked targets in the upper Cretaceous-aged Campanian and Santonian intervals. The well encountered 278 meters (912 feet) of net oil […]

Ecopetrol Makes Prepayment Of Financing Contracts

(Ecopetrol, 14.Sep.2020) — Ecopetrol S.A. will prepay its short-term obligations with local and international banks entered into in March and April 2020, in the form of trade finance instruments and short-term bank loans. The total principal to be prepaid amounts to COP 775bn (in respect of the local debt) and […]

Petrobras Cuts E&P CAPEX To $40-$50bn From $64bn

(Petrobras, 14.Sep.2020) — Petrobras reports on the revision of the Exploration & Production (E&P) segment portfolio in face of the crisis caused by COVID-19. The revision aims to maximize the value of the E&P portfolio, focusing on world-class assets in deep and ultra-deep waters. The portfolio revision is in line […]

Pompeo’s Visit Extremely Important, Says Pres. Ali

(DPI, 14.Sep.2020) — His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has described United States (US) Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo’s imminent visit to Guyana as “extremely important” and timely as the country continues to work towards strengthening bilateral relations. During a recent interview with the News Room, the Head of […]

Venezuela Defies Sanction Tripwires, Imports Oil

(Bloomberg, 13.Sep.2020) — An oil tanker is discharging Iranian condensate for Venezuela as both countries continue to avoid U.S. sanction tripwires. The ship, identified as Honey, turned off its satellite signal and started unloading about 2 million barrels of South Pars condensate at Venezuela’s state-controlled port of Jose on Saturday, […]

Venezuela Tears Apart Oil Pipelines To Sell As Scrap

(Bloomberg, 11.Sep.2020) — Venezuela’s capacity to produce some much-needed gasoline and diesel of its own hinges on a single oil play. To tap it, the Nicolas Maduro regime is willing to cannibalize the country’s crumbling energy infrastructure to pay contractors with scrap metal. Unlike the tar-like crude from Venezuela’s Orinoco […]

Petrobras Starts Binding Phase For Power Companies

(Petrobras, 11.Sep.2020) — Petrobras, following up on the press release disclosed on 07/06/2020, informs the beginning of the binding phase regarding the sale of its stakes in five power generation companies: Brasympe Energia S.A., Energética Suape II S.A., Termoelétrica Potiguar S.A. (TEP), Companhia Energética Manauara S.A. (CEM) and Brentech Energia […]

Latin America and the Caribbean

Petrobras On Espírito Santo Basin Binding Phase

(Petrobras, 11.Sep.2020) — Petrobras, following up on the release dated 10 June 2020, announced the beginning of the binding phase regarding the sale of a part of its interest in the exploratory blocks, belonging to the concessions ES-M-596_R11, ES-M-598_R11, ES-M-671_R11, ES-M673_R11 and ES-M-743_R11, located in the Espírito Santo Basin. Potential […]

Ecuador To Invest $1.2mn In El Cantón Arajuno Projects

(Energy Analytics Institute, 11.Sep.2020) — Authorities from Ecuador’s Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources (MENRNR) and the autonomous decentralized government of Arajuno announced development of electrical infrastructure in the region with an approximate investment of $1.2mn. The infrastructure will benefit around 1,200 residents of the communities of San Virgilio, […]

Petrobras Collaborates With New Phase Of Lava Jato

(Petrobras, 11.Sep.2020) — Petrobras informs that yesterday, the 74th phase of Lava Jato operation (Car Wash) was launched, in which the Federal Prosecutors and the Federal Police are investigating possible wrongdoing in connection with exchange contracts signed with Banco Paulista, as well as alleged improper payments to three company employees, […]

Pemex Head Visits Sonda de Campeche

(Energy Analytics Institute, 11.Sep.2020) — Pemex head Octavio Romero Oropeza visits workers on the Ayatsil-C y Akal-B platforms in Sonda de Campeche. See these stories and others when they are first published on Energy Analytics Institute’s instagram feed here. Source of the photos: Pemex. __________ By Jared Yamin. © Energy […]