(Jef Feeley, Nicolle Yapur and Andreina Itriago Acosta, Bloomberg, 31.Dec.2024) — A US judge reset the bidding process for the parent company of Citgo Petroleum Corp. late Tuesday, a move that is poised to create competition for Elliott Investment Management’s pursuit of the oil refiner. Judge Leonard Stark ordered the […]
Tag: PDV
US Reimposes Venezuela Oil Sanctions
(Argus, 17.Apr.2024) — The US administration today reimposed sanctions targeting Venezuela’s oil exports and energy sector investments and set a deadline of 31 May for most foreign companies to wind down business with state-owned PdV. The US decision rescinds a sanctions waiver issued last October, which allowed Venezuela to sell […]
No Change Afoot At Venezuela’s Oil Ministry: Sources
(Argus, 10.Dec.2021) — Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami returned to work this week after a prolonged medical leave and will not be replaced, a senior source close to the government told Argus. A second source confirmed the information. The minister attended meetings in person in Caracas this week and will […]
Venezuela Adapts To US sanctions With Rising Oil Flow
(Argus, 3.Nov.2021) — Venezuela is cranking up oil production in a reflection of the Opec country’s moderate success in adapting to operational constraints imposed by prolonged US sanctions. Output has surpassed 600,000 b/d as PdV incorporates Iranian condensate to help dilute extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco oil belt, which is now […]
Citgo Boards In Last-ditch Talks With Washington
(Reuters, 22.Oct.2021) — The supervisory boards of Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum, racing to stave off a breakup of the eighth largest U.S. oil refiner, have held talks with U.S. officials in Bogota, Colombia, seeking to extend Washington’s protection while Citgo pursues negotiations with creditors, Reuters has learned. Citgo is running out […]
Venezuela Close To Losing More Overseas Assets
(Argus, 30.Sep.2021) — A Dutch court has dealt the latest blow to Venezuela’s shrinking overseas portfolio that neither the Venezuelan government nor its political foes has succeeded in defending from creditors and arbitration claimants. In a 14 September Dutch appeals court ruling, Curacao’s state-owned RdK won the right to sell […]
ConocoPhillips Steps Up Push To Collect PdV Debt
(Argus, 23.Sep.2021) — ConocoPhillips stands out in Venezuela’s vast universe of jilted creditors and claimants as a potential future commercial partner for state-owned PdV, a distinction that is driving aggressive international enforcement actions and quiet overtures for Caracas to resume payments of the company’s arbitration debt. The US independent’s $10bn […]
Sucre Energy Bets On Venezuelan Gas
(Argus, 8.Sep.2021) — Venezuela’s abundant hydrocarbons are beckoning a new generation of investors, stepping in where more established companies are pulling out. Sucre Energy, a Netherlands-based and Spanish-registered private equity company, acquired the central Venezuelan assets of Japan’s Inpex in a deal that closed in May for an undisclosed sum. […]
Citgo Envisions Oil ‘Bridge’ To Venezuela
(Argus, 23.Aug.2021) — US refiner Citgo has been effectively cut off from its Venezuelan state-owned parent PdV since 2019, but it is still constrained by heavy debt while multiple creditors nip at its heels. In the first part of a two-part interview, chief executive Carlos Jordá spoke with senior contributing […]
New Chinese Tax Narrows Venezuela’s Oil Export Options
(Argus, 17.May.2021) — A Chinese tax overhaul threatens to orphan up to 400,000 b/d of Venezuelan heavy sour crude that has been a lifeline for Caracas since the US imposed oil sanctions in 2019. Although Chinese companies moved away from directly lifting Venezuelan crude around August 2019, independent refiners regularly […]
PdV Refinery Suspends Petrol Production
(Argus, 12.Mar.2021) — Venezuelan state-owned PdV suspended gasoline production at its 305,000 b/d Cardon refinery this week as a result of more equipment breakdowns. Cardon was producing about 45,000 b/d of gasoline before a compressor failure shut down the plant’s 54,000 b/d naphtha reformer. The failure of steam supply units […]
Judge Approves Citgo Parent Share Sale
(Argus, 14.Jan.2021) — Venezuela inched closer to losing control of its US refining subsidiary Citgo today after a federal judge began crafting a sale process for shares of its controlling company to pay off the country’s international debts. The court will move forward with the process of selling shares of […]
PdV Turns Refinery Repair Effort To Puerto La Cruz
(Argus, 10.Dec.2020) — PdV has restarted a crude distillation unit at its 190,000 b/d Puerto La Cruz refinery for the first time since 2017, but as with the Venezuelan state-owned company’s other refinery repair efforts, expanding and sustaining operations remains a challenge. Atmospheric distillation unit 1 (DA-1) restarted gradually over […]
Venezuelan Opposition Fills PdV Chair On Election Eve
(Argus, 7.Dec.2020) — Venezuela’s opposition-controlled National Assembly named another oil industry veteran to chair a shadow board of Venezuela’s national oil company PdV. The key appointment comes on the eve of tomorrow’s disputed National Assembly elections that are widely expected to cement the power of President Nicolas Maduro. The US-backed […]
Venezuela Crude Production, Exports Recover
(Argus, 1.Dec.2020) — Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s crude production and exports have recovered in recent weeks as China resumed direct loadings and a tanker deficit the company blames on US sanctions eased, according to PdV officials and internal reports seen by Argus. PdV’s crude exports jumped to around 500,000 b/d last […]
Bonaire Eyes Curacao Model To Sell Venezuelan Oil
(Argus, 28.Aug.2020) — Another Dutch Caribbean island is racing to safeguard and possibly sell Venezuelan fuel oil before a US sanctions window closes in December. Bonaire hosts Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s 10mn bl Bopec oil terminal, one of the few offshore assets that remains in the Caracas-based company’s hands. Following years […]
Cash-short Cuba Orders More Power Cuts
(Argus, 26.Aug.2020) — Cuba is deepening power cuts as US sanctions on its main fuel supplier Venezuela make it harder for the island to keep its lights on. Venezuela’s state-owned PdV has long supplied crude and fuel to Cuba under a barter agreement dating back two decades. But PdV’s own […]
Faulty Heat Exchangers Spill Venezuelan Oil
(Argus, 26.Aug.2020) — An estimated 25,000 bl of oil spilled along western Venezuela’s coastline in recent weeks came from faulty heat exchangers at state-owned PdV’s El Palito refinery, three officials at the plant told Argus. Heat exchanger systems that use seawater as coolant for crude processing units were contaminated with […]
How Venezuela’s Oil Industry Collapsed: FT.com
(FT.com, 23.Aug.2020) — The country’s oil industry was once the envy of the region, but after decades of mismanagement and corruption the sector is facing ruin. The FT’s Andean correspondent Gideon Long asks what went wrong. Watch his video here. __________
Curacao Fuel Sale Touches Venezuela Sanctions Nerve
(Argus, 18.Aug.2020) — A fuel oil cargo stuck off of the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao is about to be released to an unnamed buyer in a closely monitored transaction that highlights maritime sensitivity to US sanctions on Venezuela. The Liberia-flagged Panamax Promoter loaded the cargo early this month at […]
Aruba Receives Refinery, Development Proposals
(Argus, 31.Jul.2020) — The government of Aruba received proposals to refurbish its refinery and develop alternative industries on the brownfield site. RdA, the state-owned asset holder, received 29 proposals out of 57 initial registrations for the first option of refurbishing the 235,000 b/d San Nicolas refinery, which was formerly owned […]
Politics Entangling Exile PdV Board
(Argus, 1.Jul.2020) — An “ad hoc” board of state-owned PdV that is a key part of US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido’s parallel administration is running into political resistance in the run-up to National Assembly elections in early December. Ten deputies in the opposition-controlled assembly withheld support for three board appointments […]
Venezuela Tightens Grip On Fuel Stations
(Reuters, 28.Jun.2020) — Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA has told independent gas station operators it can revoke their licences “at any time”, only weeks after it cut generous fuel subsidies and as widespread shortages take hold, a notification PDVSA sent to the operators showed. PDVSA has a monopoly over the […]
Wave Of Venezuelan Oil Stalled At Sea
(Argus, 10.Jun.2020) — Vessel tracking data shows a fleet of 44 international tankers on the water holding 40.5mn bl of Venezuelan oil as shipowners face growing risk of US sanctions for transporting cargoes to and from the country. The tankers, which include 13 very large crude carriers (VLCCs), 12 Suezmaxes, […]
Restart Of Virgin Islands Refinery Delayed Again
(Argus, 10.Jun.2020) — The restart of an oil refinery in the US Virgin Islands is poised for another delay because of pandemic restrictions. The refinery was supposed to reopen in July after undergoing a $2bn overhaul by Limetree Bay Ventures, which is owned by US private equity firm Arclight Capital […]
Venezuela Rolls Out Two-tiered Fuel Pricing
(Argus, 1.Jun.2020) — A two-tiered gasoline pricing system rolled out by Venezuela today maintains generous subsidies for limited volumes but allows private-sector operators to charge international prices for imports. The new fuel rationing and pricing policy was unveiled over the weekend in separate addresses by President Nicolas Maduro and acting […]
Q&A: PdV Exile Board Has ‘Levers’ To Keep Citgo
(Argus, 28.May.2020) — Luis Pacheco is chairman of a parallel board trying to exert control over the future of Venezuela’s state-owned PdV. Appointed by the National Assembly led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, Pacheco and other key members of Guaido’s team are fighting to keep the company’s US refining arm […]
PdV Keeps Nynas Board Seat After Restructuring
(Argus, 13.May.2020) — Venezuela’s state-owned PdV has retained one seat on the new corporate board of European specialty refiner Nynas after a restructuring that freed the venture from US sanctions. The new board composition illustrates PdV’s small but enduring role in the European downstream business that it acquired in the […]
FBI Probes Firms Over Venezuela Oil Trading
(Reuters, 13.May.2020) — The FBI is probing several Mexican and European companies allegedly involved in trading Venezuelan oil as it gathers information for a U.S. Treasury Department inquiry into possible sanctions busting, according to four people familiar with the matter. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy for […]
Venezuelan Oil Plan Runs Aground
(Argus, 8.May.2020) — A sweeping proposal to draw investment into an Opec nation would normally turn some heads. That is what Venezuela’s US-backed political opposition had been expecting when it rolled out the final draft of a comprehensive hydrocarbons reform bill last week. But in the time it takes to […]
Is PDVSA Abandoning Its Socialist Agenda?
(Oilprice.com, 29.Apr.2020) — Venezuela seems to be changing tactics when it comes to managing its oil resources. PDVSA is considering a major industry reform that would increase private company activities in its troubled oil industry, according to a document seen by Reuters. This would be a far cry from its […]
Fire Reduces Venezuelan Heavy Crude Flow
(Reuters, 28.Apr.2020) — The latest fire to erupt at one of Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s oil installations has temporarily knocked out up to 130,000 b/d of heavy crude production from three of the firm’s joint ventures with foreign partners. PdV said today it has extinguished the blaze, which broke out on […]
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 […]
US Reviews Need For Venezuela Waivers: Update
(Argus, 16.Apr.2020) — The US is rethinking the premise behind its earlier decision to allow Chevron and other US and international firms to continue their presence in Venezuela, as it steps up the pressure of sanctions designed to force Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro to step down. Chevron and European oil […]
Venezuela Brushing Aside Oil Price Signals For Now
(Argus, 2.Apr.2020) — Venezuela’s crude production partially recovered to around 700,000 b/d at the end of March, but state-owned PdV and its foreign partners cannot afford to dismiss weaker price signals for much longer, according to industry officials inside and outside Venezuela. Output had slid to about 500,000 b/d in […]
Economic Fallout From Virus Felt In Venezuela
(ABC News, 16.Mar.2020) — Nicolás Maduro’s government on Monday banned gasoline sales in two states as part of a broader lock-down to stem panic buying by Venezuelans accustomed to hoarding basic goods whenever there’s a hint of turmoil. But his orders, which explicitly prohibit lines outside gas stations, were largely […]
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 […]
Pipeline Blast Halts PetroPiar
(Argus, 10.Mar.2020) — Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s PetroPiar joint venture with Chevron suspended upgrading operations following a pipeline explosion early today, three oil workers at the facility tell Argus. The plant has since resumed partial operations and is slowly ramping back up to an unspecified level. Sulfur and hydrogen processing units […]
PdV Names New Shipping Head As Arrests Mount
(Argus, 9.Mar.2020) — Venezuelan state-owned PdV named a new head of its shipping unit following 38 arrests over alleged fuel theft. PdV Marina’s new president is Cesar Vladimir Romero Salazar, a navy captain who also heads the national aquatics institute INEA. The arrests were the latest manifestation of a purge […]
Venezuela Promises Another Oil Revival
(Argus, 20.Feb.2020) — Venezuela’s embattled government is vowing to overhaul the national oil industry one day after the US administration sanctioned the Russian trading company that channels most Venezuelan crude to market. In his latest national address late yesterday, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro issued an energy emergency decree and created […]
Ask No Questions, Tell No Lies
(Argus, 11.Feb.2020) — Juan Guaido is finally returning to Caracas today, with a vow to dislodge the “usurper” so he and his team of exiles can Make Venezuela Great Again. “Where’s Guaido?” is a question that often echoes among Venezuelan opponents of President Nicolas Maduro. Young opposition leader Juan Guaido […]
Storage Constraints Prompt PdV To Consider Oil Pits
(Argus, 28.Feb.2020) — Venezuela’s PdV has exhausted its storage capacity and is now considering digging open-air pits to hold swelling stocks that US sanctions are keeping off the export market, according to multiple PdV upstream and marketing officials. A presidential commission created on 19 February to reorganize PdV has instructed […]
Venezuela Oil Exports Accelerate
(Argus, 16.Jan.2020) — Venezuela kicked off the new year with at least 730,000 b/d of crude exports, led by several India-bound cargoes, according to local and international shipping data obtained by Argus. In the first half of January, a half dozen tankers loaded at state-owned PdV’s Jose terminal, most recently […]
Citgo Drops Aruba Refinery Project, Island Balks
(Argus, 13.Jan.2020 — Citgo, the US refiner that Venezuela’s political opposition nominally wrested from the Opec country’s national oil company PdV in 2019, is abandoning a refinery project in Aruba, sparking fury on the Dutch-controlled island. In a 27 December letter obtained by Argus, Citgo Aruba Refining (CAR) told workers […]
Maduro Govt Eyes Turning Point
(Argus, 20.Dec.2019) — PdV is leaning on joint-venture partners as it looks to continue a nascent crude output revival and live up to an improved economic outlook for 2020 The US sanctions-hit government of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro aims to turn a corner in its struggle to maintain power, as […]
PdV Gets Curacao Reprieve
(Argus, Patricia Garip, 2.Dec.2019) — Venezuela’s state-owned PdV struck a preliminary agreement with Curacao to hang on to the Isla refinery and Bullen Bay terminal for a transition period of up to one year after its lease expires at the end of December. The preliminary lease extension is another notch […]
Guaido Sacks Colombia Envoy, Oil Boss Freites Quits
(Argus, 27.Nov.2019) — Another prominent figure in Venezuela’s US-backed parallel administration has abruptly departed and an oil union leader has quit the main opposition political party in the latest signs of internal discord. In a 26 November letter, self-declared interim president Juan Guaido informed his Colombia envoy Humberto Calderon Berti […]
Rosneft Cool On Venezuela’s Sweeter Gas Terms, For Now
(Argus, 6.Nov.2019) — Venezuela is offering sweeter fiscal terms to Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft for two offshore natural gas fields that are well-positioned to supply nearby Trinidad and Tobago, but the company has yet to make an investment commitment. The National Constituent Assembly (ANC), a rubber-stamp entity controlled by Venezuelan president […]
Repsol Lowers Venezuela Exposure
(Argus, 4.Nov.2019) — Spanish integrated firm Repsol further reduced its exposure to its upstream business in Venezuela in the third quarter thanks to a small provision and a rise in crude receipts from the country. The company declined to specify the size of the provision against its upstream assets in […]
Brazil Targets Greek Tanker For Spill
(Argus, 1.Nov.2019) — Brazil is targeting a Greek-flagged tanker as the source of a catastrophic oil spill that has spread across the northeastern coast. Federal police say the Suezmax Bouboulina docked in Venezuela on 15 July before heading to Singapore with a stop in South Africa. Brazilians authorities have previously […]