How Venezuela Lost Three Supertankers to Its Chinese Partner
A shipping joint venture between Venezuela and China has fallen apart in the wake of U.S. sanctions, resulting in the South American nation losing three supertankers at a time when foreign shippers are reluctant to carry its oil, court documents show.PetroChina Co Ltd, which had been state-run Petroleos de Venezuela’s partner in the Singapore-based joint venture CV Shipping Pte Ltd, took control of the three tankers between January and February, according the documents from a Singapore court reviewed by Reuters.The transfer of the Junin, Boyaca and Carabobo very large crude carriers (VLCC) has not been previously reported.It came after U.S.
Venezuela Ships First Crude Mixed with Algerian Oil to China
Venezuela is sending its first shipment of crude mixed with Algerian light oil to China, according to state oil company PDVSA and traders. Venezuela recently started importing Saharan Blend from Algerian state-run Sonatrach to dilute its extra heavy crude from the Orinoco oil belt. PDVSA had previously imported costlier naphtha to use as a diluent. The Carabobo supertanker carrying 1.8 million barrels of Merey heavy crude will arrive in China in 46 days, PDVSA said in a statement. It did not elaborate on the terms of the deal. "This Merey crude was made with the imported Algerian crude," a trader said on Friday. The Merey blend using Algerian oil fetches Venezuela $20 dollars more per barrel than crude mixed with imported naphtha, according to Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez.
Algerian Tanker Arrives with Venezuela's First Crude Import
Oil tanker Carabobo, carrying Venezuela's first importation of crude oil, arrived late on Saturday at the Jose port, where it is scheduled to unload up to 2 million barrels of Algerian Saharan Blend to be used as a diluent for Venezuela's extra heavy crude, according to Reuters tanker tracking data. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
4.6 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Capital of Venezuela
A 4.6 magnitude earthquake shook the capital on Saturday and the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, without preliminary damage or casualties were reported. The epicenter was 25 kilometers northeast of the town of El Limon in the state of Aragua, and 67 miles west of Caracas, said the United States Geological Survey (USGS for its acronym in English). "So far we have not seen any injury to persons or wounded this product trembling," said the governor of Aragua, Tarek El Aissami, by a local television station. Local media said that so far had no reported damage. The quake was also felt in the state of Carabobo, Aragua neighbor and Civil Protection reported no affectations.
Igor Sechin Held Negotiations in Venezuela
Rosneft President Igor Sechin held talks with the Minister of Popular Power for Oil and Mining and President of Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA ), Rafael Ramirez Carreno. The parties discussed a wide range of issues regarding current cooperation between the companies, Rosneft activities in Venezuela and the outlook of development of new projects. Currently Rosneft and PDVSA cooperate in the realization of 5 Joint Ventures in the upstream sphere in Venezuela. Project Carabobo-2,4 (JV Petrovictoria). JV PetroMonagas. Project Junin-6 (JV PetroMiranda). JV Boqueron. JV Petroperija. Total geological oil reserves of these projects are estimated more than 20.5 bln t.
