Venezuela Sa News

In June, the United States imposed sanctions on half a dozen oil tankers managed by established shipping firms. It was a major escalation of American attempts to choke off Venezuela’s oil trade.Within weeks, a little-known company based in the United Arab Emirates took over management of several tankers that had been shipping Venezuelan oil. The vessels got new names. And then they resumed transporting Venezuelan crude.The company, Muhit Maritime FZE, is one of three UAE-based entities identified by Reuters that have shipped Venezuelan crude and fuel during the second half of this year. Their role emerges from an examination of internal shipping documents from Venezuela’s state oil company as well as third-party shipping and vessel tracking data.

A tanker chartered by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is loading Venezuelan crude for export, documents from state-run PDVSA show, providing evidence of the two countries’ latest tactics to expand their trade in defiance of U.S. sanctions.Venezuela and Iran have deepened their cooperation this year as Venezuela has exchanged gold and other commodities for Iranian food, condensate and fuel.Names of scrapped vessels are being used by several PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.) customers, including NIOC, to disguise the routes and identities of the tankers they use.A very large crude carrier (VLCC), identified in PDVSA’s loading documents as the Ndros…

On Aug. 21, a tanker called the Otoman docked at the Jose oil terminal on Venezuela’s coast in the Caribbean to load 1.82 million barrels of heavy crude, according to the state oil company’s internal documents.Yet no tanker with that name is registered in major global shipping databases.Muddying the situation further, the unique identifier for the Otoman listed in the documents - a number used by the International Maritime Organization to identify ships - was assigned to another tanker called the Rubyni, according to the databases.The Rubyni was broken up two years ago, they record. Satellite images provided by TankerTrackers.com, an independent vessel tracking service…

This article will focus on “noncomprehensive sanctions,” which target “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDNs), but otherwise do not prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country (if any). While there are multiple noncomprehensive sanctions programs, we will focus on three: Venezuela (which can be thought of as quasi-comprehensive), Global Magnitsky (human rights) and Hong Kong. Russia also has a substantial noncomprehensive sanctions program, which we will address in a later article.NONCOMPREHENSIVE SANCTIONS PROGRAMS: IN GENERALThe U.S.

Around midnight on February 23, Eulalio Bravo, a marine electrician, was dozing in his rack aboard the San Ramon, an oil tanker anchored off the coast of Venezuela.Suddenly, he heard footsteps pounding along the passageway outside. His captain, Jaime Herrera, cried for help."Be still!" an unfamiliar voice ordered.A gun fired.By the time Bravo and eight other shipmates emerged to see what had happened, the captain lay dead, a gunshot in the back of his head. Herrera's stateroom had been pillaged, drawers flung open, his bunk overturned. The killers were gone, as were thousands of dollars the captain kept under lock and key, according to crew members interviewed by Reuters.The murder…

Last year, China replaced the United States as the No. 1 importer of oil from Venezuela, yet another front in the heated rivalry between Washington and Beijing.The United States had imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company as part of a bid to topple that country’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. U.S. refineries stopped buying Venezuelan crude. Caracas’ ally China, long a major customer, suddenly found itself the top purchaser. Through the first six months of 2019, it imported an average of 350,000 barrels per day of crude from Venezuela.But in August, Washington tightened its sanctions on Venezuela, warning that any foreign entity that continued to do business with the South American country’s government could find itself subject to sanctions.

The Trump administration on Tuesday blacklisted six oil tankers involved in the shipment of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, the latest in a series of sanctions aimed at pressuring Havana to abandon its support for socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.Six vessels belonging to state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, were targeted, according to a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department."Cuba and the former Maduro regime continue trying to circumvent sanctions by changing the names of vessels and facilitating the movement of oil from Venezuela to Cuba…

The United States on Friday announced more sanctions on shipping companies transporting oil from Venezuela, blacklisting four shipping companies and nine vessels, some of which the U.S. Treasury Department said carried oil to Cuba.The U.S. Treasury identified the firms as Liberia-based Jennifer Navigation Ltd, Lima Shipping Corp and Large Range Ltd, and Italy-based PB Tankers S.P.A.It blacklisted one tanker belonging to each of the Liberian firms and six owned by the Italian firm.A Treasury statement said Venezuela’s oil sector continued "to provide a lifeline to the illegitimate regime" of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.“We continue to target companies that transport Venezuelan oil to Cuba…

Last July 6, Major General Manuel Quevedo joined his wife, a Catholic priest and a gathering of oil workers in prayer in a conference room at the headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.The career military officer, who for the past year has been boss at the troubled state-owned oil company, was at no ordinary mass. The gathering, rather, was a ceremony at which he and other senior oil ministry officials asked God to boost oil output."This place of peace and spirituality…

President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, held a meeting with CEO of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, to bolster the joint work between Venezuela and Russia and sign new agreements on gas exploration and exploitation. People’s Minister of Petroleum and President of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., Manuel Quevedo, along with PDVSA Executive Vice President and Vice President of Trade and Supply, Ysmel Serrano; People’s Minister of Finance, Simón Zerpa; Sectoral Vice President of Economy, Wilmer Castro Soteldo, and a high level delegation of Rosneft also participated in the meeting. Fraternal relations with the Russian Federation were a highlight of the meeting, as Rosneft is a strategic partner that has enabled the development of Venezuela’s energy sector. Bilateral relations are being expanded.

Dominican Republic closed most of its ports ahead of Hurricane Maria, but the country's 34,000-barrel-per-day refinery was still running, the government said on Wednesday. Ports that suspended operations under the "red alert" declared for extreme weather conditions are La Romana, Samana, Arroyo Barril, Puerto Plata and Manzanillo, the Dominican Port Authority said in a statement. Maria was a Category 4 hurricane when it hit Puerto Rico earlier on Wednesday. The ports of San Souci and Haina…

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.

About a dozen tankers are sailing to Venezuela or waiting offshore to discharge cargoes after state-run oil company PDVSA ramped up tenders to buy gasoline and other fuels to offset its weak refining output, according to traders and Thomson Reuters data. Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) recently awarded BP , Castleton Commodities, Rosneft and CT Energia contracts to buy more than 15 cargoes of gasoline blend stock, diesel, vacuum gasoil, catalytic naphtha and cutter stock for delivery from April through May. The total volume expected for the coming weeks surpasses 4 million barrels, according to traders and tender documents circulated by PDVSA. Venezuela can produce up to 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of fuels at its refineries.

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.

Signaling a major commitment to tug fleet renewal, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has placed a 10-vessel order with Damen Shipyards Group, as part of the state-owned operator’s strategic shift from chartered in to owned tonnage. The new tugs, which are expected to enhance operating efficiencies while reduce running costs, will provide mooring and maneuvering support to tankers in Venezuelan ports and harbors. Following a global tender, the contract calls for Dutch shipbuilding group Damen to supply ten ASD 2810 type Azimuthing Stern Drive tugs, each with a 60 metric ton bollard pull rating.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA borrowed 4 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in a 17-year loan from Banco Bradesco SA to help pay for work on the Abreu e Lima refinery in northeastern Brazil, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday. Petrobras, as Brazil's state-controlled oil producer is known, will pay annual interest of 9.5 percent plus Brazil's TR minimum savings remuneration rate, said the source, who declined to be identified because terms of the deal are subject to banking secrecy laws in Brazil. The TR yielded 0.3 percent in the 12 months through the end of February, according to the BM&FBovespa exchange. The Abreu e Lima Refinery, or RNEST, outside of Recife is expected to cost $20 billion by the time it reaches full operating capacity of 235,000 barrels a day in mid-2015.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA borrowed 4 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in a 17-year loan from Banco Bradesco SA to help pay for work on the Abreu e Lima refinery in northeastern Brazil, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday. Petrobras, as Brazil's state-controlled oil producer is known, will pay annual interest of 9.5 percent plus Brazil's TR minimum savings remuneration rate, said the source, who declined to be identified because terms of the deal are subject to banking secrecy laws in Brazil. The TR yielded 0.3 percent in the 12 months through the end of February, according to the BM&FBovespa exchange. The Abreu e Lima Refinery, or RNEST, outside of Recife is expected to cost $20 billion by the time it reaches full operating capacity of 235,000 barrels a day in mid-2015.

Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd. (Wison Offshore & Marine) announced today the commencement of the construction of key modularized components for the Petroleos De Venezuela, S.A.(PDVSA) RPLC refinery project at Wison Offshore & Marine’s Zhoushan Fabrication Yard (The Zhoushan Yard). This project marks the first construction project at Wison Offshore & Marine’s Zhoushan yard, and the official operational launch of the first phase of the yard. The yard is located on Xiushan Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province and covers an area of 1.5 million square meters with a coastline of 2,300 meters. Construction on the second phase of the yard is ongoing, and is scheduled to be fully complete and operational in 2015.

Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of the Wison Group, announced has the award of a contract to supply key modularized components for a major refinery project in Venezuela. The project, known as the Venezuela Puerto La Cruz Refinery Deep Conversion Project, was awarded to Wison Offshore & Marine by Hyundai‐Wison, a consortium of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. (HDEC), Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd. (HEC) and Wison Engineering Ltd. (Wison Engineering), following a competitive bid. Procurement and Construction contractor for the project under an Prime Contract with the refinery owner, Petroleos De Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

Caribbean Tugz, LLC, an affiliate of SEACOR Holdings, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida has awarded Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, Ohio vessel construction contracts to simultaneously build two new state-of-the-art 50-ton bollard pull ASD tugboats to be used for ship docking and escort operations at the Hovensa Oil Refinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The contracts’ total price of the new tugs is $23 million. Design and construction are to start immediately, and the tugs are scheduled for completion in early 2013.

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) announced today fourth quarter net earnings for the period ended March 31, 2011, of $12.0 million, or $0.23 per share, on revenues of $254.0 million. For fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, net earnings were $105.6 million, or $2.05 per share, on revenues of $1,055.4 million. For fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, net earnings were $259.5 million, or $5.02 per share, on revenues of $1,168.6 million. •    a $6.3 million ($6.3 million after-tax, or $0.12 per…

According to a report from the Oil & Gas Journal, Itochu Corp. has won an order to supply four Aframax tankers to a subsidiary of Venezuela’s Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) and has commissioned Sumitomo Heavy Industries to build the vessels. The ships will have a capacity of 104,300 dwt each and are scheduled for delivery in 2012. (Source: Oil & Gas Journal)

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) announced fourth quarter net earnings for the period ended March 31, 2010, of $56.9 million, or $1.10 per share, on revenues of $260.0 million. For the same quarter last year, net earnings were $109.7 million, or $2.13 per share, on revenues of $341.6 million. For fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, net earnings were $259.5 million, or $5.02 per share, on revenues of $1,168.6 million. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, net earnings were $406.9 million, or $7.89 per share, on revenues of $1,390.8 million. •    a $5.4 million ($3.5 million after-tax, or $0.07 per common share) reduction of the previously recorded “Provision for Venezuelan operations…