Tag: Russia
Sierra Oil & Gas Announces Agreement With Deutsche Erdoel AG
(Sierra, 4.Dec.2018) — Sierra Oil & Gas signed an agreement that will result in Sierra’s business being integrated with Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA AG), an international independent exploration and production company headquartered in Germany. Upon completion of the transaction, Sierra will be integrated into Deutsche Erdoel MĂ©xico, a fully-owned subsidiary […]
Rosneft’s Sechin Flies To Venezuela, Rebukes Maduro Over Oil Shipments
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer and Marianna Parraga, 24.Nov.2018) — The head of Russian oil company Rosneft, Igor Sechin, flew to Caracas this week to meet Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and complain over delayed oil shipments designed to repay loans, two sources briefed on the conversation said on Saturday. The visit, which […]
T&T Energy Minister: Positive Growth Forecast For NatGas Markets
(Loop News, 14.Nov.2018) — Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and President of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Franklin Khan, said the natural gas industry is forecast to grow within the coming year, a good indicator for Trinidad and Tobago. Speaking at a media briefing after the second session of […]
Rosneft Says Venezuela’s Bill Falls To $3.1 Billion
(Reuters, 6.Nov.2018) — Rosneft was owed $3.1 billion by Venezuela as of September 30, down from $3.6 billion on June 30, Russia’s largest oil producer said on Tuesday. It also said it owes $26.8 billion to traders under prepayment deals for its oil as of Sept. 30, down from $29.3 […]
Five Groups May Join Eletronuclear Complete Power Plant Project
(Reuters, 6.Nov.2018) — Five groups are considering whether to partner with Brazil’s state-controlled Eletronuclear to resume construction of nuclear power plant Angra III, already partially built by the government, newspaper Valor EconĂ´mico reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources. The foreign companies’ interest in the venture grew after a government agency […]
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 […]
Exclusive: Perenco, Gazprombank Named In Venezuela Graft Case – Source
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer, 1.Nov.2018) — Anglo-French oil company Perenco and Russian financial firm Gazprombank have been identified in testimony by a former Venezuelan state oil company official who said he received millions of dollars in bribes in return for giving them preferential treatment, a source with knowledge of the matter […]
PDVSA Bewilders Bond Analysts By Making $949mn Payment
(Bloomberg, Davide Scigliuzzo, 31.Oct.2018) — Venezuela just forked over almost $1 billion to stay current on a bond backed by shares of its U.S. refiner Citgo. The question is why. Yes, the payment ensures that Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA gets to hold onto Citgo Holding Inc. for now, but […]
PDVSA Ships $35 Million Oil Cargo To Pay Dividends To ONGC – Sources
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer, Nidhi Verma, 31.Oct.2018) — Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA has shipped a crude cargo valued at $35 million as partial payment to Indian oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd for overdue dividends from a joint venture, according to two people familiar with the matter. The payment is based on an […]
Venezuela: Oil Producer’s Slump Reflects Nation’s Decline
(Ft.com, Gideon Long, John Paul Rathbone, 28.Oct.2018) — Gideon Long in Caracas and John Paul Rathbone in Washington October 28, 2018 Print this page 95 In the lobby of the building where Iván Freites works, a photograph of an oil rig covers one wall. Emblazoned across it is the Venezuelan […]
Bondholders Raise Hopes Venezuela Will Pay Up On Due Debt
(Ft.com, Gideon Long, 25.Oct.2018) — In a month in which emerging market government bonds have been hammered by the prospect of US rate increases, geopolitical risk and fears of a US-China trade spat, one bond — in crisis-racked Venezuela of all places — has rallied to record highs. The 2020 […]
PDVSA Prepares To Make $949 Mln Payment On Citgo-Backed Bond
(Bloomberg, 24.Oct.2018) — Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s plan to make a $949 million bond payment would mark a rare exception for Nicolas Maduro’s regime as it tries to hold on to the crown jewel of its U.S. assets. Venezuela’s state-run oil company is preparing to make the coupon and partial […]
Foreign Oil And Gas Firms Look To Play Crucial Role In Venezuela
(Energy Global, David Bizley, 19.Oct.2018) — The majority of foreign companies are not making any profit or losing money in their partnerships with PDVSA to develop and produce hydrocarbons due to inadequate investment, shattered infrastructure and US sanctions. However, in the long term, having access to the vast hydrocarbon reserves […]
Venezuela’s Oil Exports Are Falling Even Faster Than Expected
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav, 3.Oct.2018) — A delay in port repairs following a tanker collision is putting additional pressure on already pressured Venezuelan crude oil exports, Reuters quoted anonymous sources close to PDVSA as saying this week. It seems that Venezuela’s woes are only multiplying as time goes by, although news […]
Venezuelan Oil Port Repairs Delayed, Crude Exports Fall: Sources
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 2.Oct.2018) — Repairs to a dock at Venezuela’s main oil export port will take at least another month to complete following a tanker collision more than a month ago, further restraining the OPEC member nation’s crude exports, according to sources and shipping data. A minor incident in […]
Petrobras Cuts Gasoline Refinery Price After Pump Record
(Reuters, 24.Sep.2018) — Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Monday that it would cut the average price of gasoline at its refineries by 0.59 percent after pump prices hit record levels in the country last week. Petrobras, as the company is known, said the price reduction to […]
Methane Fears Cloud Argentina’s Shale Oil And Gas Future
(Financial Times, Benedict Mander, 23.Sep.2018) — Green energy groups say huge shale oil and gas reserve is leaking greenhouse gases. Jorge Daniel Taillant used a $100,000 infrared camera this year to investigate whether oil and gas installations in Vaca Muerta were leaking toxic gases. The grainy black-and-white thermal images that […]
OPEC’s Decade of Turmoil Leaves Cartel Seeking a New Way Forward
(Bloomberg, Christopher Sell, 20.Sep.2018) — A global recession, both $140 and $30 oil, the U.S. shale revolution, a market-share war, and output cuts. OPEC’s 60-year history has rarely confronted a more challenging period than the past decade. Now, instead of enjoying the higher prices resulting from 18 months of joint […]
IEA Warns of Higher Oil Prices as Iran and Venezuela Losses Deepen
(Bloomberg, Grant Smith. 13.Sep.2018) — The International Energy Agency warned that oil prices could break out above $80 a barrel unless other producers act to offset deepening supply losses in Iran and Venezuela. Iranian crude exports have fallen significantly before U.S. sanctions even take effect, the IEA said in a […]
Tanker Backlog Builds Again in Venezuela
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 6.Sep.2018) — Crude exports by Venezuela’s PDVSA have slowed after a tanker collision at its main port last month disrupted operations, adding to a backlog of vessels waiting to load, according to shipping sources and Reuters data. Oil is the financial lifeline for the embattled socialist government […]
The Latest Episode in the Crystallex-Venezuela Saga
(Mining.com, Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, 29.Aug.2018) — State-owned PetrĂłleos de Venezuela SA or PDVSA announced on Twitter that it filed an appeal requesting that a Delaware court vacate a decision made public on August 23 granting Canadian miner Crystallex the right to seize its U.S. assets. In its statement, the oil […]
Trinidad Imports 40% of Oil from Russia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 27.Aug.2018) —Trinidad and Tobago is relying on Russia as its main source of imported crude oil. Between January and June 2018, the small twin-island country imported over 15 million barrels of crude oil from the [Petrotrin] refinery. Of that, 40% of the crude oil imports […]
Renaissance Oil Advancing at Amatitlán block in Mexico
(Renaissance, 27.Aug.2018) — Renaissance Oil Corp. announced that in the second quarter of 2018 it saw continued oil field development with its partner LUKOIL, at the Amatitlán block in Veracruz, Mexico. During the quarter, six additional wells were drilled intersecting the shallow Tertiary aged Chicontepec formations. To date sixteen Chicontepec […]
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 […]
Venezuelan Oil Assets to be Seized by Creditors
(Express, Simon Osborne, 16.Aug.2018) – Venezuela’s oil assets are being targeted by angry creditors after a US court granted a Canadian mining company permission to send in the bailiffs. Firms owed billions by the beleaguered South American country and its state-owned oil firm PDVSA are now lining up to make […]
PDVSA Cut Debt to Rosneft $400 Mln in Q2
(Neftegaz.RU, 10.Aug.2018) – According to Platts, Venezuela’s state oil and gas company PDVSA cut its debt to Russia’s top crude producer Rosneft by $400 million in the 2nd quarter to $3.6 billion as of the end of June, Rosneft’s 2nd-quarter results presentation showed this week. Rosneft agreed prepayment deals for […]
PdV, Joint Ventures Miss Oil Targets
(Argus, 9.Aug.2018) – Venezuela’s state-owned PdV and its joint ventures fell short of officially targeted crude production by more than 125,000 b/d in July, according to an internal PdV upstream report obtained by Argus. The steepest shortfalls were registered in the Orinoco heavy oil belt — long touted by the […]
Venezuela Is Oil Market’s Bizarro World
(S&P Global Platts, Nastassia Astrasheuskaya, 7.Aug.2018) – Venezuela’s state oil and gas company PDVSA cut its debt to Russia’s top crude producer Rosneft by $400 million in the second quarter to $3.6 billion as of the end of June, Rosneft’s second-quarter results presentation showed Tuesday. Rosneft agreed prepayment deals for […]
The Weirdest Oil Lawsuit Of 2018
(OilPrice.com, Viktor Katona, 6.Aug.2018) – Rosneft has been rocking the Russian oil sector for quite some time already – first it acquired several domestic assets, in some cases bordering on hostile takeover, then it took on a couple of international commitments in Iraqi Kurdistan and Venezuela and secured hefty tax […]
Chuquisaca Signs Multi Billion Oil Deal
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 28.Jul.2018) – The agreement, signed between the Bolivian government and authorities from the department of Chuquisaca provides for initiation of work in more than 8 areas. Announcement of the planned investments came after meetings between the government, and authorities and representatives from different sectors of […]
PetroVictoria Producing 10,000 b/d
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 5.Jul.2018) – The heavy oil project is currently producing 10,000 barrels per day, according to PDVSA. PetroVictoria, is a joint venture comprised of Venezuela’s PDVSA and Russia’s Rosneft to develop heavy oil reserves in Venezuela as part of the Carabobo-2/4 project. In May 2013, Rosneft […]
PDVSA Installs Two Heavy Oil Desalters
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 5.Jul.2018) – The land transfer of two from BolĂvar to Anzoátegui states, for oil crude desalination has successfully been completed. The main function of both desalination plants is the subtraction of water and salt contained in heavy oil crude. The two mega-structures were constructed with […]
Venezuela’s Declining Crude Exports Squeeze India’s Refiners
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 3.Jul.2018) – Venezuela’s crude shipments to India, its third largest export market, fell 21 percent in the first half of the year, according to internal documents from state-run PDVSA, adding to supply troubles for Indian refiners as they are increasingly pressed to diversify oil imports. Venezuela’s production […]
Petrozamora Incorporates Steam Generators in Zulia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 3.Jul.2018) – PDVSA Petrozamora, a joint venture comprised of PDVSA and Russia’s Gazprom, completed recovery and incorporation of two steam generators. The generators, SimĂłn BolĂvar 24 (SB-24) and SimĂłn BolĂvar 40 (SB-40), are located in located in the state Zulia at the Lagunillas Field in […]
Gazprom to Invest $1.2 Bln in Bolivia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 28.Jun.2018) – Gazprom confirmed it will invest $1.22 billion in the Bolivian petroleum sector. The Russian company’s investments will be destined towards exploration activities at the Vitiacua field located in the department of Chuquisaca. Gazprom didn’t rule out financing rehabilitation projects for older Bolivian fields, […]
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, […]
Venezuela’s Petropiar upgrader begins restart
(Reuters, 26.Jun.2018) – Venezuela’s PDVSA and Chevron have begun to restart their 210,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Petropiar heavy crude upgrader after a nearly month-long, repair-related shutdown and a fire, according to the state-run company and two sources close to the facility. Venezuela’s crude upgraders, which can convert near 700,000 bpd of extra-heavy […]
OPEC’s Vienna Meeting: The Challenge of Failing NOCs
(The Council on Foreign Relations, Amy Myers Jaffe, 19.Jun.2018) – As energy ministers from major oil producing countries gather in Vienna this week to discuss the stability of global oil markets, the variables that will dictate outcomes have rapidly shifted. Pre-meeting narratives that previously focused on the appropriate level of […]
Oil Prices Expected to Rise
(FinancialBuzz.com, 19.Jun.2018) – Despite the recent downturn in oil prices, Goldman Sachs remains optimistic. According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs forecast a tighter oil market for a longer duration due to strong demand growth and the probability that rising supply disruptions could counter any increase in OPEC production. “Our updated global […]
Gazprom Reiterates Interest in Bolivia
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 16.Jun.2018) – Russian oil giant Gazprom remains attracted to the hydrocarbon opportunity set in Bolivia in South America. A working meeting between Gazprom Management Committee Chairman Alexey Miller and Bolivia’s President Evo Morales was held at Gazprom’s office in Moscow where various agreements were signed […]