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. Some measures could come before the vote and others could be imposed afterwards. The official, who is close to U.S.
China Rebuffs U.S. Criticism of its Venezuela Ties
China's support for Venezuela has benefited ordinary people and been broadly welcomed, the foreign ministry said on Monday after the U.S. Treasury accused China of aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government with murky oil-for-loan investments. In a Friday speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. Treasury's top economic diplomat, David Malpass, said China's focus on commodities and opaque financing deals had hurt, not helped, countries in the region. His attack on China's role in aiding the Venezuelan government came a day after U.S.
EU to Hit Venezuelan Officials with Sanctions
Seven senior Venezuelan officials are likely to face European Union sanctions from next week, including the country's powerful chief justice, diplomats said, as the EU seeks to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to resolve a political crisis. The travel bans and asset freezes, which EU ambassadors are set to approve on Thursday, will follow U.S. sanctions last year and mark a tougher stance from European capitals that had sought to coax a solution without resorting to punitive measures. "The (Venezuelan) government has crushed the opposition and is guilty of human rights abuses…
Trump Prohibits Dealings in New Venezuelan Government, PDVSA Debt
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting dealings in certain Venezuelan public sector debt on to pressure the government of President Nicolas Maduro to halt its "tyranny," the White House the White house said on Friday. The order prohibits dealings in new debt and equity issued by the Venezuelan government and by its state oil company, PDVSA. But the White House said the order allows Treasury to provide licenses for other commercial and humanitarian transaction, including financing for commercial trade, petroleum exports and imports and transactions that only involve PDVSA's U.S. unit, Citgo.
Oil Markets Brace for Possible US Sanctions on Venezuela
U.S. oil markets were readying for fallout from potential U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's vital oil sector on Monday after Sunday's election in the struggling country was deemed a "sham" by Washington. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday celebrated the election of a new legislative superbody that will have the power to dissolve state institutions such as the opposition-run Congress. Countries around the world denounced the vote. U.S. crude futures jumped above $50 a barrel for the first time in two months early in the session before retreating, after U.S. officials said sanctions could be announced as early as Monday.
U.S. Sanctions Vens as Pressure Builds on Maduro
The Trump administration imposed sanctions on 13 senior Venezuelan officials as the country's opposition launched a two-day strike on Wednesday, heaping pressure on unpopular President Nicolas Maduro to scrap plans for a controversial new congress. Venezuela's long-time ideological foe the United States targeted the country's army and police chiefs, the national director of elections, and a vice president of the state oil company for alleged corruption and rights abuses. U.S. President Donald Trump spared Venezuela for now from broader sanctions against its vital oil industry, although such actions were still under consideration. U.S.
US Top Court Sides with Venezuela over Oil Rigs Claim
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday tossed out a lower court's ruling that had allowed an American oil drilling company to sue Venezuela over the seizure of 11 drilling rigs in 2010 but allowed the business another chance to press its claims. Siding with Venezuela, the justices ruled 8-0 that a lower court that had given the go-ahead for the suit must reconsider whether claims made by Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company can proceed. Writing for the court, Justice Stephen Breyer said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2015 used the wrong standard in denying Venezuela immunity from the lawsuit.
Sovcomflot Holds PDVSA Oil Hostage over Debts
Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, sent a tanker in October to the Caribbean with the expectation that its cargo of crude would fetch about $20 million - money the crisis-stricken nation desperately needs. Instead, the owner of the tanker, the Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, held the oil in hopes of collecting partial payment on $30 million that it says PDVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees. Despite a longstanding alliance between Venezuela and Russia, Sovcomflot sued PDVSA in St. Maarten, a Dutch island on the northeast end of the Caribbean. "The ship owners ...
Multinational Firms Flee Venezuela
Multinational companies are selling their Venezuelan operations at hefty discounts - or even giving them away - as they to seek to escape the OPEC nation's soaring inflation and chronic supply shortages. Six firms, including General Mills and oil producer Harvest Natural Resources, have sold operations for as little as half their assessed value on the companies' books, according to securities filings and interviews with a dozen people knowledgeable about the deals. One company, U.S. autoparts-maker Dana, last year sold its debt-laden Venezuela operations to a local buyer for no cash compensation.
US Justices Drill Down on Venezuela Oil Rig Dispute
Some U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared wary about the foreign policy implications of making it too easy for foreign governments to be sued in U.S. courts as they considered a lawsuit by an Oklahoma-based oil drilling company that claims Venezuela unlawfully seized 11 drilling rigs six years ago. The eight justices heard an hour-long argument in Venezuela's appeal of a lower court ruling that allowed one of the claims brought by Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company against the South American nation to proceed. The company sued both the Venezuelan government and state-owned oil companies under a U.S.
PDVSA in talks with Credit Suisse for Bond Swap
Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has begun talks with Credit Suisse AG for a possible swap of bonds due in 2017, according to sources familiar with the conversations. PDVSA has seen its income fall drastically due to the drop in oil prices and is seeking to alleviate the heavy debt payments required in 2016 and 2017. The oil company is due to pay in November some $2.3 billion in amortization for bonds due in 2017, an amount representing more than half of what PDVSA owes in total payments by the end of the year, according to Thomson Reuters data.
US Supreme Court to Hear Venezuela Oil Rig Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to weigh Venezuela's bid to block a lawsuit filed by an American oil drilling company that claims the South American country unlawfully seized 11 drilling rigs six years ago. The high court will review a May 2015 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that allowed one of the claims made by Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company to move forward. The company sued both the Venezuelan government and state-owned oil companies under a U.S.
Venezuela Bid to Review $46mln Tidewater Award Rejected
Venezuela's request to review a $46 million compensation claim it has been ordered to pay to oil service company Tidewater was rejected and the stay on the award's execution lifted, a World Bank tribunal said in a decision posted on its website on Wednesday. The South American OPEC country had sought a revision "based on what it describes as an error in the tribunal's damages calculation," an International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes' (ICSID) tribunal said in its decision. The award includes around $44 million in owed invoices.
Brent Falls on Uncertainties over US Order on Venezuela
Benchmark Brent oil prices fell almost 1 percent by midday on Monday after rising briefly earlier, as traders cited uncertainties about U.S. President Barack Obama's executive order against OPEC member Venezuela, which also imposed sanctions on certain individuals. Brent's front-month was down 42 cents at $59.31 a barrel, after trading earlier at nearer to $60 before the executive order was issued. The day's high for Brent was $60.02. Obama declared Venezuela a national security threat, sanctioning seven individuals and expressing concern about the Venezuelan government's treatment of political opponents.
Uruguay to Pay Venezuela for Some Oil with Goods
OPEC member Venezuela said on Tuesday it has modified a deal with beef-exporting Uruguay to allow it to pay for oil with goods and services, in the latest move possibly designed to ease shortages. Under a July contract, Venezuela promised to supply some 12,330 bpd to Uruguay this year. In addition to beef, Uruguay also exports dairy products, soy, rice and oranges. The presidents of both South American countries changed the 2005 cooperation agreement in late January, the Venezuelan government's official daily gazette said on Tuesday.
Obama Plans to Sign Venezuela Sanctions Legislation
President Barack Obama plans to sign legislation that would impose sanctions on Venezuelan government officials found to have violated protesters' rights during demonstrations earlier this year, the White House said on Thursday. The measure would deny visas and freeze assets of officials involved in what the law considers a crackdown on political opponents during three months of street protests in Venezuela over crime and the economy that left 43 dead. The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the legislation after the Senate passed it on Monday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama plans to sign it into law.
US Restricts Travel by Venezuelan Officials
The United States imposed travel restrictions on Wednesday on some Venezuelan government officials it accuses of rights abuses in a crackdown on protests against President Nicolas Maduro this year. Three months of demonstrations led by hard-line opposition and student leaders earlier this year led to violence that killed 43 people in the South American OPEC member nation's worst unrest for a decade. Demonstrators said they were protesting economic hardships and dictatorial government, but Maduro, who replaced the late Hugo Chavez last year, called them a cover for a U.S.-backed "coup" attempt against him.
