Under Military Rule, PDVSA Workers Quit in Stampede
Chauffeured around in a sleek black pick-up, the head of Venezuela's oil industry, Major General Manuel Quevedo, last month toured a joint venture with U.S. major Chevron. Flanked by other trucks carrying security guards, Quevedo passed a handful of workers waiting by an oil well cluster. They wanted a word with the OPEC nation's oil minister and president of its state-run oil firm, PDVSA, about the sorry state of the company. Quevedo and his caravan drove on by.
U.S. Considers Venezuela Oil Sanctions
The Trump administration is considering sanctioning a Venezuelan military-run oil services company and restricting insurance coverage for Venezuelan oil shipments to ratchet up pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro, a U.S. official said. With Maduro running for another term in an April election that Washington and its allies oppose as a sham, the United States is weighing sanctions that would target Venezuela’s vital oil sector beyond what has been done before, the official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Venezuela Arrests Ex-oil Bosses
Venezuelan authorities on Thursday arrested two once-powerful officials who had run the oil ministry and state energy company PDVSA as part of a deepening industry purge also seen as a power play by leftist President Nicolas Maduro. In the highest-profile arrests to date, engineer Eulogio Del Pino and chemist Nelson Martinez were detained early on Thursday on accusations of graft and seeking to sabotage the nation's ailing energy industry, prosecutor Tarek Saab said in a televised speech.
Venezuela Bondholders Mull Alliances
Holders of Venezuelan bonds are meeting with each other and considering forming committees, advisers and fund managers told Reuters, as questions mount about the feasibility of President Nicolas Maduro's proposal to restructure $60 billion of debt. Maduro has said the country will keep servicing its obligations for now. But bondholders ranging from longstanding investment funds to hedge funds and emerging markets funds in the United States and…
PDVSA Debt Payment to Test Vens Socialist Party
Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA faces a $1.2 billion bond payment on Thursday that will test the ruling Socialist Party's resolve to pay its foreign debt despite a crippling economic crisis that has spurred widespread food shortages and malnutrition among children. Markets remained optimistic that President Nicolas Maduro's government will make the payment, though investors expect delays. PDVSA last week struggled for days to deliver funds for a separate bond payment amid confusion over which banks were charged with transferring the money.
Venezuela Struggles to Manage Crushing Debt
Venezuela is considering several options to repay its debts, the oil minister said on Thursday, after a deep recession and low crude prices hit output and prompted Caracas to seek funds from China and Russia. Venezuelan oil production has slipped to its lowest levels in about 20 years, hurting a nation which relies almost solely on crude exports for revenues. Oil minister Nelson Martinez, speaking at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries…
Venezuela Court Move May Spook Non-Russian Oil Majors
The sight of Venezuela's National Assembly president tearing up a Supreme Court ruling and warning foreign firms against making deals with the leftist government will no doubt resonate in international boardrooms. The ruling ripped up by Congress head Julio Borges on Thursday was designed to allow President Nicolas Maduro to create oil ventures without congressional approval, easing investment in the cash-strapped country's floundering oil industry.
Schlumberger Lets Go of Workers in Venezuela
Oilfield services company Schlumberger has let go of workers and pulled out of projects as it cuts operations in crisis-stricken Venezuela, sparking worker protests and heightening worry over the OPEC country's slumping oil output. Schlumberger in April said it would reduce activity in the South American OPEC nation, which accounted for less than 5 percent of the company's consolidated revenue last year, due to insufficient payments and no improvements on the horizon.
Venezuela's Oil Production Drops as Economic Crisis Bites
Hungry Venezuelans are rioting and looting amid worsening food shortages, but the OPEC country's remote oil fields have been sheltered from the social unrest so far. Venezuela's blistering economic crisis, however, is hitting them full on. Output in the country, which has the world's largest oil reserves, dropped to 2.37 million barrels per day in May, according to OPEC data published on Monday. That's down some 5 percent from April and off nearly 11 percent from 2015…
O&G Explorers Must Rethink Africa Activity
Oil & gas explorers must rethink their capital expenditure on exploration activity across the African continent in the wake of the significant drop in the global oil price, according to an analysis on the oil & gas industry in Africa released by PwC. “Oil & gas explorers will be relooking at their budgets and deciding where to allocate their limited capital spend given the substantial decline in the oil price. Overall, low oil prices could have an impact on production undermining certain players in the market…
Turkish Shipbuilder to Send Floating Power to Gaza
Turkish shipbuilder Karadeniz Holding plans to send an electricity generating vessel to Gaza to provide urgently needed power in the enclave left reeling by an Israeli bombing campaign that began last month. Karadeniz announced its intentions on Tuesday, shortly after Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that a power ship - a floating power station - would be sent as soon as Gaza's port facilities had been upgraded. Israel began military…
