HOUSTON, TEXAS (By Pietro D. Pitts, Energy Analytics Institute, 12.May.2026, Words: 2087) — As Caracas courts Caribbean partners again — signaled most recently by a new deal with Barbados — Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez appears to be testing the waters for a PetroCaribe reboot. But any “PetroCaribe 2.0” will operate […]
Tag: Hugo Chavez
EAI brief: China-Venezuela bilateral ties, $10bn in Chinese loans still outstanding
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA (By Ana Sanches, Energy Analytics Institute, 20.Jan.2026, Words: 315) — China and Venezuela have developed a deep bilateral trade relationship, which florist during the years of the presidency of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez Frías from 1999-2013. This Chinese-Venezuelan relationship continued under Nicolàs Maduro Moros — who took […]
A short primer on the relationship between China-Venezuela
WASHINGTON, DC (By The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 13.Jan.2026, Words: 3,259) — A short primer on the relationship between Asia’s China and South America’s Venezuela. Political Evolution — from the late 1950s to the late 1990s, Venezuela was regarded as one of Latin America’s more stable democracies.[1] After […]
The New York Times Morning: Inside Venezuela
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (By The New York Times, Sam Sifton, 3.Dec.2025, Words: 692) — In Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro is trying to avoid the long arm of the United States, according to The New York Times Morning edition of 3 Dec. 2025. Fast dancing In response to threats from […]
A Month After Venezuela’s Contested Election, the Opposition Fights On
(The Washington Post, 27.Aug.2024) — A month ago, Venezuela’s opposition nurtured a cautious hope. A national election seemed to present a genuine chance to oust the entrenched autocratic regime of President Nicolás Maduro. Even as Maduro and his allies stacked the odds against their opponents, disqualifying top candidates and wielding the […]
NRGBriefs: May Day Celebrations, No Expropriations Expected
(Energy Analytics Institute, 1.May.2022) — Energy briefs including Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young visiting Washington, DC to discuss regional energy matters; May Day (1 May) celebrations taking place across the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region but no […]
State Win for Venezuela’s Opposition Masks Deeper Problems
(Al Jazeera, 11.Jan.2022) — Despite a symbolic victory in Hugo Chavez’s home state, analysts say the opposition has few options left. Venezuela’s opposition has won an important symbolic battle in securing the governorship in Barinas State, but analysts say they are still losing the broader political war with government forces. On […]
Former PDVSA Executive Ortega Gets Two Year Prison Sentence
(AP, 5.May.2021) — A former Venezuelan oil executive was sentenced to more than two years in prison for taking at least $12 million in bribes from businessmen who allegedly raided the coffers of the state-run oil company. Abraham Ortega is the first former Venezuelan official to be sentenced as part […]
China, Russia, Venezuela: Q&A With Thomas O’Donnell
(Energy Analytics Institute, 13.Feb.2021) — China and Russia continue to push around their might in Venezuela. Thomas O’Donnell with the Hertie School of Governance & Freie Universität-Berlin weighs in briefly here. Energy Analytics Institute: What might China and Russia be willing to do this year to assist Venezuela’s President Nicolas […]
Rafael Ramirez: Venezuela Can Fix Its Own Oil Industry
(Argus, 8.Sep.2020) — Rafael Ramirez served as Venezuela’s oil minister from 2002-2013 and concurrent chief executive of state-owned PdV from 2004-2013, a tumultuous period marked by an oil strike and nationalizations under the late president Hugo Chavez. In this interview, edited for length and clarity, Ramirez, now in exile in […]
What Oil Spill In Venezuela Tells Us About Its Politics
(Javier Corrales, 7.Sep.2020) — The largest oil reserves and one of the world’s most incompetent governments have brought authoritarianism, economic collapse and environmental disaster to the country. It has been a tough summer for Venezuela. The already ailing country, in the throes of a severe lockdown, is also experiencing a […]
Chavez’s Legacy Oil Hasn’t Been Broken?
(The Globe and Mail, 13.Feb.2020) — In terms of its trademark nationalist approach to its economy – the crown jewel of which has long been the country’s oil industry – Venezuela doesn’t seem like what it used to be. First, in 2019, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – who succeeded Hugo […]
PDVSA Cedes Oilfield Operations To Foreign Firms
(Reuters, 3.Jan.2020) — Venezuelan state company PDVSA is letting some joint venture partners take over the day-to-day operation of oilfields as its own capacity dwindles due to sanctions and a lack of cash and staff, according to a former oil minister, an opposition lawmaker and industry sources. Crude production by […]
Unpaid Bills Add To Pemex Woes
(Bloomberg, Amy Stillman, Peter Millard and Justin Villamil, 26.Nov.2019) — Companies that help keep Mexico’s faltering oil wells operating are waiting months to get paid and the debts are building up, complicating efforts to revive an industry whose production has plunged by half since 2004. Pemex, facing pressure from the […]
Maduro Pledges Funds For Shipyard In Argentina
(Reuters, Luc Cohen, 3.Nov.2019) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday pledged funds for a state-owned Argentine shipyard to finish building two long- overdue tankers for state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, which is struggling with a diminished tanker fleet. Maduro, a socialist who has overseen a drastic economic collapse […]
Venezuela Oil Exports To Cuba Rising: Sources
(Reuters, Mircely Guanipa and Marianna Parraga, 25.Sep.2019) — Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA ordered an increase in exports to ally Cuba to ease fuel shortages on the island this month, challenging U.S. sanctions on shipping firms involved in the trade, according to three industry sources and Refinitiv Eikon data. The […]
Venezuela’s Congress To Consider Scaled-back Reform
(Reuters, By Luc Cohen, 15.Aug.2019) — Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress is considering reforms to the country’s oil law that would open up the sector to private investment but are scaled back from the sweeping changes outlined in a past proposal, according to a draft of the bill seen by Reuters. The […]
Fallout From Sweet Oil Deal For Venezuela’s Neighbors
(NPR, 20.Jul.2019) — It sounded like such a good idea at the time. The year was 2005. Global oil prices were climbing dramatically. Countries in the Caribbean were facing major fuel shortages. Venezuela, one of the world’s largest producers of crude, offered to ease the staggering fuel costs faced by […]
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, […]
Ex-Venezuela Oil Official Pleads Guilty In Graft Probe
(AP, 2.Nov.2018) The former finance chief of Venezuela’s state oil company pleaded guilty on Wednesday to participating in an alleged US$1.2-billion embezzlement scheme, a major breakthrough for US prosecutors targeting corruption by people close to President Nicolas Maduro, including his stepsons. Appearing in a Miami federal court, Abraham Ortega promised […]
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 […]
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 for his sustained leadership on this issue, but the time has come for more dramatic action. Specifically, the U.S. should […]
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 nation to turn around its crashing economy. Already a major economic partner, China has agreed to invest US$5 billion more […]
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 prices provide signals for businesses, workers, and consumers. Secondly, capitalist economies are highly capitalized. Indeed, the stocks of physical and […]
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 the PetroCaribe initiative. “As I explained in my message of Prime Minister Jean Henry- Céant (and) to the nation, and […]
How Will Guyana Deal With Its Oil Windfall?
(CNNMoney, Talib Visram, 4.Sep.2018) — The South American country with the smallest GDP is about to burst with oil. ExxonMobil found oil off Guyana’s coast in 2015, and believes the reserves are big. Conservative estimates project to about 4 billion barrels. Some experts think there’s more to be found in […]
Scorch Earth Suicide in Venezuela
(EnergyNomics de Venezuela, Carlos A Rossi, 1.Sep.2018) — Nicolas Maduro has drawn the line in the sand: “Either you are with me and stay here living precariously with Chavism, or you are against me and get out. If you choose none of the above: Starve.” Cornered by a hyperinflation over […]
Rosneft May Challenge Crystallex Claim To Citgo Shares
(Oilprice.com, Irina Slav, 23.Aug.2018) — Rosneft has asked a U.S. federal court to establish “a robust appraisal and sale process” of Citgo shares following Canadian miner Crystallex’ win at court against the parent company of Citgo, PDVSA, Argus Media reports citing documents submitted by Rosneft to court. “Such a course […]
Rafael Ramírez Says Maduro Destroyed PDVSA
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 19.Aug.2018) – Former PDVSA President Rafael Ramírez says Venezuela produced 3 million barrels per day until December 2013. That figure has dropped by 1.8 million, according to his statements. “When we were in the revolutionary government of Comandante Chávez, we had fiscal balance and enough […]
Crystallex Can Go After Venezuela’s US Refineries
(Associated Press, 9.Aug.2018) – 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 […]
How Far Can Venezuela Go In Raising Gas Price?
(AFP, Esteban Rojas, 5.Aug.2018) – In Venezuela’s inflation-hit economy, a single US dollar can buy 3.5 million liters of gasoline — an absurdity that the government says it will tackle with a hike in the cost of state-subsidized fuel. But just how far can President Nicolas Maduro go without getting […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 Ex-Oil Czar Sees Economic Collapse Accelerating
(AP, 27.May.2018) – Venezuela’s former oil czar said crude production in the OPEC nation will continue to plummet in the aftermath of President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election, as the embattled socialist leader takes the country down an increasingly authoritarian path that scares off private investment and leads to more international sanctions […]
Venezuela’s Oil Sector Glory Days [EAItv]
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 1.May.2018) – A brief look at Venezuela’s oil sector glory days. Will they return?
PDVSA Completes Directional Work on 70th Well in Maracaibo
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 20.Jun.2016) – PDVSA’s Western Petroleum Services division has performed services on a total of 70 drilling wells with the recent completion of work on a directional drilling well located in Lake Maracaibo. Work at the LB-2963-ST well where the PDV-142 rig is located, was completed […]
Venezuela Seeks Disqualification of ICSID Judges
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 26.Mar.2015) – Venezuela presented a letter to the ICSID court requesting the dismissal of judge Kenneth Keith. Keith is the president of the arbitration tribunal in the case brought to the court by ConocoPhillips in its wrongful expropriation case against the government of Venezuela which […]
Q&A with Tudor Pickering’s David Pursell
(Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 18.Sep.2013) – Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. LLC Managing Director David Pursell spoke with Energy Analytics Institute in a brief interview from Dallas, Texas. What follows are excerpts from the brief interview. EAI: Are PDVSA’s CITGO assets along the US Gulf Coast strategic? Pursell: […]
Journalist round table with PDVSA head Rafael Ramirez about the Faja, FONDEN, and more
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (By Pietro D. Pitts, Energy Analytics Institute, 31.Jul.2013, Words: 1999) – PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez held a small round table with journalist in Caracas, Venezuela. What follows are excerpts from the discussion.
Ramirez Comments on Oil, Mining Sectors
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 27.Jul.2013) – Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez comments on development of the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt and the Venezuelan mining sector. “The Faja project was a dream of Hugo Chavez and I swear that we will complete the project.” “We have establish order in the […]
Q&A with Tissot Associate’s Roger Tissot on Venezuela, Ecuador and PetroCaribe
CARACAS, VENEZUELA (By Energy Analytics Institute, Pietro D. Pitts, 19.Jul.2013) – Tissot Associates Consultant Roger Tissot spoke with Energy Analytics Institute in a brief interview from Canada. What follows are excerpts from the brief interview.
Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico: Three Ways To Nationalize Oil
(CSMonitor, 12.May.2012) — Argentina’s renationalization of its biggest oil company, YPF, recently caused an outcry. But the cases of oil nationalization in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela show that outcomes can vary widely. “Nationalization is an old story in Latin America,” says Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. […]
Venezuela Seizes Helmerich & Payne Rigs
(TulsaWorld, Rod Walton, 2.Jul.2010) – The action comes amid a payment dispute in which the company left the equipment idle. Helmerich & Payne’s 52-year business relationship with Venezuela came to at least a temporary end Thursday as President Hugo Chavez’s government seized 11 rigs owned by the Tulsa contract drilling […]
Petro-Canada Joins Venezuelan Oil Exodus
(Reuters, 26.Jun.2007) — Petro-Canada has pulled out of Venezuela by rejecting new nationalistic terms for oil projects and passing its stake in one discovery to President Hugo Chavez’s government, it said on Tuesday. “We have decided not to migrate to the new commercial structure, so our working interest passes to […]
Bolivia’s Nationalization of Oil and Gas
(Council on Foreign Relations, Carin Zissis, 12.May.2006) — In a region seen as turning leftward, forging alliances would seem a natural course of events. But Bolivian President Evo Morales’ decision to nationalize the oil and gas industry is exposing tensions, causing experts to say there is more diffusion than alliance-building […]