US Senators Expected To Sanction Nord Stream 2
(Reuters, 29.May.2020) — Two U.S. senators are expected to introduce next week sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline that Russia is trying to finish, but which Washington...
Iran’s 4th Fuel Tanker Nears Venezuelan Waters
(Fars News Agency, 28.May.2020) — Iran's fourth tanker full of gasoline has entered the Caribbean and is close to the Venezuelan territorial waters. Venezuelan armed forces are due to escort...
Mexico To Remain In Opec+, No Output Cuts Planned
(Argus, 22.May.2020) — Mexico will remain within the Opec + group but has no plans for further production cuts, the energy ministry told Argus today. "Mexico will participate in the...
The Only Hotspot Where Big Oil Will Still Spend
(Oilprice.com, 7.May.2020) — Oil majors may be slashing spending and deferring development plans across the globe, but they remain committed to developing the newest offshore oil finds in the heart...
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...
Saudi OSPs For Oil Exports Bode Well For Asian Refiners
(WoodMac, 16.Apr.2020) — On 13 April, Saudi Arabia announced the Official Selling Prices (OSPs) for its May crude oil exports. The new OSPs speak volumes about Saudi Arabia's crude export...
OPEC And Non-OPEC To Cut Output By 9.7 MMb/d
(OPEC, 12.Apr.2020) — The 10th (Extraordinary) OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, on Sunday, 12 April 2020, under the Chairmanship of HRH Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman,...
Collapsing Demand Sets Terms In OPEC+ Battle
(WoodMac, 9.Apr.2020) — Since OPEC+’s failure to agree on production restraint on 5-6 March, the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic have become far clearer, sparking a crisis in the oil...
‘Dead Cow’ Oil Play Set To Be Next Permian Is Now Dead
(Bloomberg, 1.Apr.2020) — Just a bit more than 3 weeks ago, the head of Argentina’s state-run driller outlined an aggressive $1.8 billion spending plan for 2020 in the country’s Vaca...
Maduro Highlights Need To Stabilize Oil Market
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 31.Mar.2020) — Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro highlighted the importance of the agreements between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies (OPEC+), as...
Kremlin Fights US Sanctions, Backs Maduro
(Bloomberg, 30.Mar.2020) — The Kremlin’s sudden shift of ownership of multi-billion-dollar oil projects in Venezuela shields oil giant Rosneft PJSC from further U.S. sanctions but keeps Moscow firmly behind embattled...
Venezuela’s Oil Output Falls To Five-month Low
(Reuters, 30.Mar.2020) — Venezuela’s crude production ended last week at around 670,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to documents seen by Reuters and two people with access to output data,...
Rosneft’s Venezuelan Oil Loads Cancelled – Data
(Reuters, 28.Mar.2020) — Three large crude carriers (VLCCs) chartered by units of Russian oil major Rosneft to transport Venezuelan oil left Caribbean waters empty on Saturday after the cargoes were...
Rosneft To Sell Venezuela Operations To Russian Gov’t
(S&P Global Platts, 28.Mar.2020) — Russia's largest crude producer Rosneft said Saturday it is ceasing operations in Venezuela and selling all assets related to activities there. "Today [Saturday], Rosneft entered...
Rosneft Sells Its Venezuelan Assets
(Rosneft, 28.Mar.2020) — Rosneft announces the termination of its operations in Venezuela and the disposal of its assets, related to operating in Venezuela. Today Rosneft concluded an agreement with the...
Which Supply Is Most At Risk Of Shut-in?
(WoodMac, 27.Mar.2020) — The coronavirus pandemic is reducing oil demand. The OPEC+ production restraint agreement fell apart on 6 March and Saudi Arabia is rapidly increasing supply. The result: Brent...
US Targets Maduro Regime With Fresh Charges
(WSJ, 22.Mar.2020) — The U.S. quietly unsealed criminal cases against two former officials at Venezuela’s state oil monopoly this month as part of what American officials say is a new...
Maduro Suggests OPEC, OPEC+ Discuss Oil Market
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 12.Mar.2020) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has suggested that members of OPEC and OPEC+ return to discussions about balancing the oil market. "Let us seek...
Venezuela Discussing Oil Prices With OPEC, Russia
(TASS, 12.Mar.2020) — Venezuelan authorities are discussing the situation with the oil price collapse with OPEC and Russia, President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday at a press conference broadcasted in...
China “Teapot” Refiners Crank Up Run Rates
(Reuters, 11.Mar.2020) — China’s independent oil refiners are cranking up production as local governments begin to relax strict measures to contain the coronavirus and fuel demand begins to recover. A...
Mexico Says Hedge Covers Oil Income
(Reuters, 10.Mar.2020) — Mexico’s finance minister said on Tuesday a $1.4 billion hedge program completely covered 2020 national oil income following a steep drop in crude prices, adding the government...
Venezuela Cause Drifting Off International Agenda
(Argus, 10.Mar.2020) — Venezuela's US-backed opposition is scrambling to stay relevant at home and abroad as the US and other foreign patrons turn inward to focus on slowing the spread...
PetroMonagas Incorporates Turbo Generator
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 20.Feb.2020) — In order to generate its own electricity, the PetroMonagas joint venture incorporated use of an electric turbo generator (TG2) at its upgrader at...
Maduro Shakes Up PDVSA Amid Oil Sector 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...
Rosneft Says US Sanctions On RTSA Illegal
(Rosneft, 18.Feb.2020) — The sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department against Rosneft’s subsidiary RTSA and its Chairman are illegal, unjustified, and an act of legal abuse. Rosneft has been...
Ending Putin’s Support Of Venezuela Not Easy For US
(AP, 18.Feb.2020) — In October 2016, the head of Russia’s largest oil company traveled to the birthplace of Hugo Chávez, in the empty, sweltering plains of Venezuela, to unveil a...
US Imports Of Russian Residue Complicate Venezuela Sanctions
(Argus, 10.Feb.2020) — US Gulf Coast refiners have been increasing their imports of a crude oil residue from Russia in response to both sanctions on Venezuelan crude exports and declining...
Beyond The Dragon Deal
(Trinidad Newsday, 5.Feb.2020) — One of the biggest lessons we can take away from the pausing of the landmark cross-border agreement between TT and Venezuela is how our interests are...
Russia Sends Lavrov To Venezuela
(Reuters, 4.Feb.2020) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Venezuela on Friday in a show of support for President Nicolas Maduro, a socialist who Washington wants out of power....
Venezuela Weighs Privatizing Oil
(Bloomberg, 27.Jan.2020) — Facing economic collapse and painful sanctions, the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has proposed giving majority shares and control of its oil industry to big...
Guaido Rubbing Elbows In Surprise Foreign Trip
(Argus, 20.Jan.2020) — The US government is hoping a high-profile international tour by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will re-inject momentum into its protracted campaign to unseat President Nicolas Maduro....
Oil Is The Only Way Back Up For Venezuela
(Oilprice.com, 19.Jan.2020) — There’s only one path to rebuilding Venezuela, and it’s paved with oil. For the time being, that path leads nowhere. The key to controlling everything now lies...
China Scaling Back Economic Support For Maduro: Envoy
(Reuters, 15.Jan.2020) — The Trump administration’s envoy on Venezuela said China appears to be scaling back economic support for President Nicolas Maduro, and Beijing acknowledged a diminishing role largely due...
Abrams Sees China Scaling Back Support For Maduro
(Reuters, 15.Jan.2020) — The Trump administration’s envoy on Venezuela said China appears to be scaling back economic support for President Nicolas Maduro, and Beijing acknowledged a diminishing role largely due...
Venezuelan Oil Exports Fell By A Third In 2019
(Reuters, 7.Jan.2020) — Venezuela’s oil exports plummeted 32% last year to 1.001 million barrels per day, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and state-run PDVSA’s reports, as a lack of staff...
US Considering More Venezuela Sanctions
(S&P Global Platts, 6.Jan.2020) — The US may respond to escalating political disarray in Venezuela by allowing a sanctions waiver for Chevron and four US oil services companies to expire...
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...
Venezuela Is Quietly Ramping Up Oil Production
(Oilprice.com, 31.Dec.2019) — If anyone is to ever write a guidebook on political survival, the skills of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would certainly top the contemporary charts. This autumn went...
US Cuts Venezuelan Flows Plans For China, Rosneft
(S&P Global Platts, 24.Dec.2019) — US sanctions on PDVSA shut down roughly 500,000 b/d of crude flows from Venezuela to Gulf Coast refineries within a matter of weeks after being...
PDVSA, Partners Produce 500,000 b/d Of Orinoco Crude
(S&P Global Platts, 17.Dec.2019) — Production levels by Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA and its international partners in the Orinoco Belt rose to 500,000 b/d, or 38.5% of its 1.3 million b/d...
Venezuela Oil Output Rises
(Reuters, 10.Dec.2019) — Venezuela’s crude output in November jumped more than 20% from the prior month to the highest level since the United States tightened sanctions on state oil company...
Rosneft Undermining US Plans In Venezuela?
(Atlantic Council, Matthew Bryza, 27.Nov.2019) — US President Donald Trump is conducting policies of “maximum pressure” on two countries, Venezuela and Iran. In Venezuela, Russia’s state-owned oil company, Rosneft, actively...
Maduro Pledges 30 MMbbls To Back Cryptocurrency
(Oilprice.com, Irina Slav, 21.Nov.2019) — Venezuela will use some 30 million barrels of oil it has in storage as backing for its national cryptocurrency, the petro, Reuters reports, citing a...
Venezuela Using Invisible Oil Tankers To Skirt Sanctions
(Oilprice.com, Irina Slav, 16.Nov.2019) — U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have been squeezing the life out of its economy in an attempt to remove the government of Nicolas Maduro from power,...
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...
Chevron Venezuela’s Exit To Aid Putin’s Russia
(S&P Global Platts, Brian Scheid and Rosemary Griffin, 17.Oct.2019) — Chevron is pushing back against the Trump administration's plans to let the company's Venezuela sanctions waiver expire, arguing such a...
Venezuela Readies Handover Of PDVSA To Rosneft
(Tass, 16.Oct.2019) — The government of Venezuela is ready to hand over full control over its state-run oil company PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela) to Russia’s Rosneft, El Nacional newspaper said...
Nayara Supplies Fuel To Rosneft For Venezuelan Oil
(Reuters, Nidhi Verma and Marianna Parraga, 15.Oct.2019) — India's Nayara Energy has been using Russian giant Rosneft as an intermediary to acquire Venezuelan oil, paying it in fuel rather than...
US Targets Entities, Vessels Moving Venezuelan Oil To Cuba
(US Treasury, 24.Sep.2019) — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four entities that operate in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy...
Live At State With Elliott Abrams
(US Treasury, 10.Sep.2019) — U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams discussed issues related to Venezuela during a Live At State from Washington, D.C. MODERATOR: Hello. I’m Vanessa Acker, the...
Venezuelan Oil Exports At Lowest Level In 2019
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, Mircely Guanipa, 3.Sep.2019) — Venezuela’s oil exports fell in August to their lowest level in 2019, internal reports and Refinitiv Eikon data showed, hurt by a halt...
Rosneft Seeks Euros Payment In Naphtha Tender
(Reuters, 14.Aug.2019) — Russian state oil company Rosneft has for the first time asked buyers to use the euro as the default currency in a spot tender to sell naphtha,...
US Escalates Venezuela Sanctions
(Platts, 6.Aug.2019) — The US escalated sanctions against Venezuela late Monday and may use the executive order to target crude flows to China and India, analysts said Tuesday. Highlights Analysts...
Venezuela Oil Exports Slid 17.5% In July-Data
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 1.Aug.2019) — Venezuela’s oil exports fell 17.5% in July to their second-lowest level since Washington imposed sanctions on the nation as state-run PDVSA finds fewer customers to...
Petropiar JV Starts Blending
(Reuters, 29.Jul.2019) — Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA said on Monday the Petropiar extra-heavy crude upgrader, part-owned by U.S. oil company Chevron Corp, had begun operations as a blending facility....
Wintershall Dea And ConocoPhillips Team Up In The Prolific Neuquén Basin
(Wintershall, 25.Jul.2019) — ConocoPhillips is a new partner in the Aguada Federal and Bandurria Norte blocks with Wintershall Dea. The two companies will advance the development of the significant Vaca...
TechnipFMC Awarded Contract For Arctic LNG 2
(Technip, 23.Jul.2019) — TechnipFMC has been awarded a major(1) Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract by Novatek and its partners for the Arctic LNG 2 project located in the Gydan...
Guaido Says To Protect Chevron Assets In Venezuela
(Reuters, Luc Cohen) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Tuesday he would seek to protect Chevron Corp’s assets in the country if the United States does not renew...
Sanctions Squeeze Venezuela’s EHCO Output
(Petroleum Economist, 18.Jul.2019) — Latin America's economically troubled oil giant faces the difficult task of significantly raising Asian crude grades. Venezuela's upgraders have been forced to stop upgrading extra-heavy crude...
Bolivia Strikes Gas Deal Russian Giant In Brazil
(Reuters, 11.Jul.2019) — Bolivia’s state energy firm has sealed a deal to supply gas to Russian fertilizer giant Acron’s plants in Brazil, the two sides said on Thursday, opening up...
Chevron Seeks Relief From Trump’s Venezuela Oil Sanctions
(Bloomberg, Fabiola Zerpa, Peter Millard and Kevin Crowley, 2.Jul.2019) — Chevron Corp. is lobbying the U.S. for sanctions relief so it can continue doing business in oil-rich Venezuela where President...
European Elections: Finally Becoming More Courageous About Climate Protection
(Wintershall, 6.Jun.2019) — The results of the European elections show that German voters are primarily interested in one issue: climate protection. Hugo Dijkgraaf, the member of the Wintershall Dea Executive...
Tanker Sabotage: Venezuela’s Crisis Worsens
(Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 28.May.2019) — Tankers carrying gasoline and ships transporting food for Venezuela were sabotaged last week to prevent them from reaching Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro said in a televised...
Pompeo, Putin Could Decide Venezuela’s Fate
(Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 14.May.2019) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting on Tuesday to discuss various issues, including the fate of Venezuela and...
Wintershall DEA Names Manfred Böckmann To Head Argentina Unit
(Wintershall, 2.May.2019) — Wintershall Dea announced a change of leadership at Wintershall Energía (soon to be Wintershall Dea Argentina). Manfred Böckmann took over the position of Managing Director in Argentina...
BASF And LetterOne Finalize Merger Of Wintershall And DEA
(LetterOne, 1.May.2019) — LetterOne and BASF today announced the completion of the merger of their oil and gas businesses to create Wintershall Dea, the largest independent exploration and production company...
Reuters Corrects Story Saying Venezuela Is Avoiding U.S. Sanctions by Funneling Oil Sales Through Russia
(The Moscow Times, 24.Apr.2019) — Reuters has corrected a story it published on April 18 saying Venezuela is funneling cash flow from oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft...
Gazprom Eyeing Gas Project In Argentina
(TASS, 22.Apr.2019) — Gazprom considers the possibility of acquiring a stake in one of the key producing assets of Argentina’s YPF, the company said on Monday. "Gazprom Group is considering...
CORRECTED-Venezuela Seeks To Collect Some Oil Payments Via Rosneft
(Reuters, 19.Apr.2019) — The cash-strapped government is becoming increasingly reliant on the Kremlin. (Corrects April 18 story to make clear Reuters could not determine payments were made under the proposed...
Exclusive: Venezuela Skirts U.S. Sanctions By Funneling Oil Sales Via Russia
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 18.Apr.2019) — President Nicolas Maduro is funneling cashflow from Venezuelan oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft as he seeks to evade U.S. sanctions designed to...
Wintershall Expands Portfolio In Argentina
(WorldOil, 17.Apr.2019) — Wintershall won the bidding process for two blocks in the promising Malvinas Basin off the coast of Tierra del Fuego as part of the “Costa Afuera” licensing...
Lights Dimming On Big Oil In Venezuela
(Argus, Patricia Garip, 10.Apr.2019) — Darkness has befallen Venezuela in more than one sense, and incumbent oil companies are scrambling for a ray of light. It was hard enough for...
Russian Minister To Discuss Ways To Boost Venezuela’s Oil Exports
(Reuters, 29.Mar.2019) — Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday he planned to discuss with his Venezuelan counterpart ways to increase oil exports from Venezuela. He did not give...
Venezuela’s Oil Production In Jeopardy After New Blackout
(Oilprice.com, Julianne Geiger, 26.Mar.2019) — Venezuela is once again finding itself in the dark in another massive power outage, according to Aljazeera, weighing further on the South American country that...
UPDATE 1-Wintershall Says Low Costs Will Boost Profits After Merger With DEA
(Reuters, Vera Eckert, 21.Mar.2019) — BASF’s oil and gas subsidiary Wintershall will boost profitability after its planned merger with rival DEA, drawing on cost cuts from the move, an expansion...