Venezuela Floats Lean PdV With Russia Unit

(Argus, 27.Apr.2020) — The two Maduro loyalists who have been effectively running Venezuela’s national oil industry for two months were officially appointed today as acting heads of the oil ministry and PdV, with a mandate to dismantle the company’s bloated Chavez-era organization in favor of a lean structure featuring a […]

PDVSA Partners Fret Over Managerial Vacuum

(Argus, 12.Mar.2020) — A presidential commission tasked with reorganizing Venezuela’s state-owned PdV is sowing confusion among the oil company’s joint venture partners over who is running the firm after chief executive Manuel Quevedo was effectively nudged out. “It is unclear who we are supposed to deal with now when discussing […]

Maduro Taps VP To ‘Restructure’ Oil Sector

(Reuters, 19.Feb.2020) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he would create a presidential commission to restructure the country’s beleaguered oil industry, which will be led by Vice President for the Economy Tareck El Aissami. The announcement came a day after the United States sanctioned Rosneft Trading, a unit […]

Maduro’s PDVSA Shake Up Amid Oil Emergency

(Bloomberg, 19.Feb.2020) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro declared an “energy emergency” as he announced a commission to revamp state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, redoubling efforts to shore up the nation’s crumbling oil industry. Economy Vice President Tareck El Aissami will lead the commission, which will focus on boosting […]

Rafael RamĂ­rez Says Maduro Destroyed PDVSA

(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 19.Aug.2018) – Former PDVSA President Rafael RamĂ­rez 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 […]

PDVSA President Says Venezuela Production Stabilized

(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 10.Aug.2018) – PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo assured that Venezuelan crude oil production had stabilized. Quevedo, who also serves as Venezuela’s Petroleum Minister, said last week that “our production is approximately 1.5 million barrels a day for the first half of 2018.” Those remarks were made […]

Venezuela Facing Compounding Oil Woes

(UPI, Daniel J. Graeber, 10.Aug.2018) – Though it holds the largest reserves of oil in the world, production levels put it only in the middle of the pack among OPEC member states. Venezuelan plans to stabilize crude oil production do little to address bottlenecks and the shortage of investments, an […]

Venezuela, Saudi Arabia Discuss Partnerships

(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 8.Aug.2018) — Officials from both OPEC countries discussed existing energy partnerships during their meeting in Caracas. Venezuela was represented by its Petroleum Minister Manuel Quevedo, while Saudi Arabia was represented by its Ambassador to Venezuela Saad Bin Abdullah al Saad, reported PDVSA in an official […]

Venezuela Dodges Oil Asset Seizures

(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, Mircely Guanipa, 7.Aug.2018) – Reuters) – Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA has limited the damage from an unprecedented slump in crude exports by transferring oil between tankers at sea and loading vessels in neighboring Cuba to avoid asset seizures. But the OPEC member nation is still fulfilling […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]