(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 imposed in January, and helped cut the South American nation’s oil production roughly in half before the end of the […]
Tag: Russia
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 maximum capacity, up from 435,000 b/d November 4, according to a technical report S&P Global Platts saw Tuesday. Highlights: — […]
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 PDVSA in August, two people with knowledge of PDVSA data said this week. November output averaged between 926,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) […]
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 undercuts this US policy by helping Caracas circumvent Washington’s tough economic sanctions. Yet Washington has not applied broad sanctions against […]
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 speech by President Nicolas Maduro. “I will deliver these 30 million of barrels as a liquid, physical, material backing for […]
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, but so far those sanctions haven’t been entirely successful. The reason: Venezuela is still exporting oil. So far in November, […]
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 […]
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 move could ultimately drive oil production up, bolstering both the Maduro regime and Russia’s standing in the global market. “It’d […]
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 citing own sources in the industry. According to the paper, the initiative was put forward with an aim to secure […]
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 cash to avoid violating U.S. sanctions, three sources with knowledge of the transactions said. The United States in January prohibited […]
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 pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850. Additionally, OFAC identified four vessels that transport oil and other petroleum products from Venezuela […]
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 Deputy Director of the Brussels Media Hub, and I would like to welcome participants to today’s interactive online press briefing, […]
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 in purchases by the nation’s second largest customer, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), following tougher U.S. sanctions. Overall exports of […]
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, an official Rosneft document shows. The tender, for naphtha loading from ports in Russia’s Far East, is the first time […]
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 see latest order acting as secondary oil sanctions Platts Analytics forecasts Venezuela output falling to 750,000 b/d President Donald Trump […]
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 take its oil, according to internal data from the company and Refinitiv Eikon. PDVSA and its partners exported a total […]
Petropiar JV starts blending
(Reuters, 29.Jul.2019, Words: 316) — 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. The facility, which used to produce upgraded crude destined mainly for the U.S. market, is expected to produce […]
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 Muerta shale resources in the blocks. Wintershall Dea is pleased to announce that it has signed a Sales and Purchase […]
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 peninsula in West Siberia, Russia. This development will consist of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains, each with a capacity […]
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 a license allowing the company to operate despite sanctions on the OPEC nation’s oil sector. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, […]
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 and instead focus on blending light and heavy grades, as US sanctions limit exports of the South American country’s most […]
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 a potentially important new market for the landlocked South American country. Bolivian state-owned YPFB agreed the sale of 2.2 million […]
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 Donald Trump has been pushing for regime change. Chevron executives have been telling local staff that the company expects waivers […]
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 Board and Chief Technology Officer, said at the BDEW Congress in Berlin: “If we’re seriously interested in achieving our climate […]
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 speech late on Monday. “Last week, sabotage was committed against ten tankers [with gasoline] to prevent them from reaching the […]
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 Nicolas Maduro—a hot topic for the oil market as geopolitical tensions have mounted in recent weeks. Secretary Pompeo will be […]
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 on 1 May 2019, the same day the two German companies Wintershall Holding GmbH (Wintershall) and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG […]
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 in Europe. All necessary regulatory approvals were received from nine countries, including Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and Russia. Highlights: […]
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 to evade U.S. sanctions after Rosneft threatened to ban the international news agency from operating in Russia. The story, datelined […]
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 the possibility of implementing projects in Argentina, including those related to the development of unconventional gas reserves. We are currently […]
Venezuela Seeks To Collect Some Oil Payments Via Rosneft
(Reuters, 19.Apr.2019) — The cash-strapped government is becoming increasingly reliant on the Kremlin. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has asked at least two of its clients to make payments for Venezuelan oil via Russian state energy giant Rosneft, as it comes under pressure from U.S. sanctions, according to a PDVSA […]
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 oust him from power, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters. The sales are the latest sign of the […]
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 round. In addition to the CMA-1 exploitation concession, with this award, the company will participate in further offshore exploration projects […]
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 western oil companies to operate in Venezuela before the lights went out in March. Now it is nearing impossible, at […]
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 of proven reserves and increased output, its chief executive said on Thursday. “We have cheap production and development costs and […]