Venezuela Dodges Oil Asset Seizures with Export Transfers at Sea
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has limited the damage from an unprecedented slump in crude exports by transferring oil between tankers at sea and loading vessels in neighboring Cuba to avoid asset seizures.But the OPEC member nation is still fulfilling less than 60 percent of its obligations under supply deals with customers.Venezuela has been pumping oil this year at the lowest rate in three decades after years of underinvestment and a mass exodus of workers. The state-run firm's collapse…
Russian Oil Bought by PDVSA for Cuba Discharges in Curacao
A tanker that for more than a month was unable to deliver Russian crude to Venezuela's PDVSA amid a dispute between the state-run firm and ConocoPhillips has discharged its cargo in the Caribbean, and a second vessel is soon to follow, according to Reuters data and a source with knowledge of the sales. Conoco in May got court orders to seize PDVSA's assets, inventories and oil cargoes in the Caribbean to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award. The measures were later partially revoked, but PDVSA has been unable to fully use its refining and storage facilities in the region…
Conoco Seized PDVSA Products from Isla Refinery
U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao, an island official told Reuters on Sunday.Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.“PDVSA products from the installations of the Isla refinery have been confiscated.
PDVSA Halts Caribbean Storage, Shipping; Diverts Oil Cargo
Venezuela's state-run PDVSA suspended oil storage and shipping from its Caribbean facilities following a move by ConocoPhillips to temporarily seize the firm's assets on four islands, according to a PDVSA source and Reuters data.PDVSA has begun concentrating most shipping in its main crude terminal of Jose on Venezuela's eastern coast and recalling tankers to Venezuelan waters to avoid seizures that would further cut its exports and worsen an economy on the verge of collapse.U.S.-based Conoco is attaching PDVSA's overseas assets to enforce a $2 billion arbitration award in April on the nationalization of the U.S.
Conoco Moves to Seize PDVSA's Caribbean Assets
U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a $2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions. The U.S. firm targeted facilities on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius that accounted for about a quarter of Venezuela's oil exports last year. The three play key roles in processing, storing and blending PDVSA's oil for export.
Venezuelan Crude Sales to the US Down in March
Venezuelan crude oil sales to the United States declined in March for the third month in a row this year to 651,710 barrels per day due to falling exports of main grade Merey, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. Venezuela's crude output fell in 2016 to its lowest level in 23 years. Analysts expect another decline in 2017 due to lack of investment and to cash flow problems affecting state-run oil firm PDVSA, which controls more than 40 joint ventures for exploration and production.
China Suitor Tightens Grip on Curacao Oil Project
China's Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co will submit a plan by April to revamp a century-old oil refinery in Curacao, as it seeks to secure a $5.5 billion project that will give China a foothold in the Caribbean's second-largest oil refinery. Guangdong Zhenrong, a commodity trader with strong backing from Beijing, signed a binding framework pact with Curacao's government on Nov. 19, Chen Bingyan, the firm's director and chief negotiator for the venture, told Reuters, moving past a memorandum of understanding in September.
PDVSA Woes Deepen as Caribbean Debt Soars
Unpaid debts and broken promises are making Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA an outcast in several Caribbean countries where it had been a guest of honor. The state-run company's crumbling finances are causing operational disruptions across one of its most essential regions, according to internal company documents, six sources with knowledge of its operations, and Thomson Reuters vessel-tracking data. Business partners in the island nations of Curacao, Bonaire, Jamaica and the Bahamas are turning away from the firm as debts pile up to tugboat operators…
Venezuela to Receive Angolan Crude from Statoil
Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA will receive next week a 935,000-barrel cargo of Angola's Girassol medium crude at its Bullenbay terminal in the Caribbean island of Curacao, after awarding a tender to Norway's oil com Statoil, according to traders and Reuters data. PDVSA in September changed the terms of crude tenders it had been launching since last year to import Urals crude and it is now requesting any 30-33 API degree crude with up to 1.1 percent of sulfur, while Russia's Rosneft is providing the company with Urals under a supply contract. The Angolan crude, on tanker Maran Pythia, was loaded on Oct.
Second Algerian Crude Cargo Sails to Venezuelan Port
A second tanker carrying Algerian light crude for Venezuela's state-run PDVSA has sailed from Bejaia port and is scheduled to deliver up to 2 million barrels at Jose terminal on Nov. 17, according to Reuters vessel tracking data. Venezuela last month started importing crude for the first time in its history, to be used as diluent for its growing extra heavy output as its own light and medium crude production declines and naphtha purchases are no longer affordable. The first cargo, the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Carabobo…
Explosion Hits Curacao's Isla Refinery, 2 Injured
An explosion at a gas plant of Curacao's 335,000 bpd Isla refinery on Wednesday injured two people, according to workers at the facility. A spokeswoman for Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, which operates the refinery on the island, said she could not immediately comment on the issue. (Reporting by Umpi Welvaart; Writing by Brian Ellsworth)
PDVSA Charters Another Algerian Crude Cargo
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has hired a supertanker to load a second 2 million-barrel cargo of Algerian crude, according to preliminary tanker fixture data. Venezuela will start importing light crude this month with a shipment of Algerian Saharan Blend scheduled to arrive at its Jose terminal on Oct. 26. Two additional cargoes of Russia's Urals crude were bought from Petrochina to be received at Isla refinery, operated by PDVSA on the Caribbean island of Curacao. This week, PDVSA booked the VLCC Boston to load around October 25 at the port of Arzew, according to a shipping report.
