Hugo Chavez News

Venezuela will contract with an Iranian shipyard to build two oil tankers under an existing construction agreement bedeviled by payment delays and difficulties with needed certifications, according to people familiar with the matter and documents.Venezuela’s state-run energy firm PDVSA since last year has redoubled efforts to buy and lease oil tankers to rebuild its own fleet. Its maritime operations have suffered from a long-standing lack of capital and U.S. sanctions that have…

China has entrusted a defense-focussed state firm to ship millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil despite U.S. sanctions, part of a deal to offset Caracas' billions of dollars of debt to Beijing, according to three sources and tanker tracking data. China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) stopped carrying Venezuelan oil in August 2019 after Washington tightened sanctions on the South American exporter. But it continued to find its way to China via traders who rebranded the fuel as Malaysian, Reuters has reported.

A tanker built by an Iranian shipyard for Venezuela plans to depart next month from the Middle Eastern country with a cargo of fuel components for the gasoline-thirsty nation, three sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters.The new vessel is the latest sign of the growing energy collaboration between the two nations under U.S. sanctions. Iran and Venezuela are increasingly swapping crude for diluents and for fuel the South American country desperately needs due to the poor condition of its refining network.The deals have given a boost to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro…

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.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday pledged funds for a state-owned Argentine shipyard to finish building two long- overdue tankers for state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, which is struggling with a diminished tanker fleet.Maduro, a socialist who has overseen a drastic economic collapse in the once-prosperous OPEC nation and stands accused of corruption and human rights violations, did not say how much money Venezuela would provide or when it would be disbursed.But the statement suggests he sees left-leaning Alberto Fernandez' victory in last month's Argentine presidential election as an opening to revive the construction.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four maritime firms and vessels transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba, amid an acute fuel scarcity in the island that is forcing people to line up for gasoline and public transport.Despite tough U.S. measures against Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA in January, Cuba's state-run oil import and export company Cubametales and other Cuba-based entities "have continued to circumvent sanctions by receiving oil shipments from Venezuela…

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…

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.

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. The company received court attachments freezing assets at least two of the facilities, and could move to sell them, one of the sources said. Conoco's legal maneuvers could further impair PDVSA's declining oil revenue and the country's convulsing economy.

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.

In the scorching heat of the Caribbean Sea, workers in scuba suits scrub crude oil by hand from the hull of the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker so filthy it can't set sail in international waters. The vessel is among many that are constantly contaminated at two major export terminals where they load crude from Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA. The water here has an oily sheen from leaks in the rusty pipelines under the surface. That means the tankers have to be cleaned before traveling to many foreign ports, which won't admit crude-stained ships for fear of environmental damage to their harbors, port facilities or other vessels. The…

Venezuelan state agencies have run up close to $1 billion in debts with shipping firms due to delays in returning containers, potentially boosting the cost of importing staple goods as the country struggles with product shortages and an economic crisis. The agencies have held containers for months or simply never returned them, at times leaving the truck-sized steel boxes for years in oil industry facilities or on provincial farms even though this costs $100 per day per container, according to industry sources. The debts have piled up over the last six years, coinciding with a steady rise in the role of state agencies in importing goods to Venezuela, particularly food. The country is served by industry giants such as Maersk of Denmark and Hamburg Sud of Germany.

An agreement to build oil tankers in Iran for Venezuela has been left in limbo years after it was announced as Western sanctions plus disagreements over payments and delivery terms took their toll, sources familiar with the matter say. The deal was heralded in 2006 with much fanfare by Tehran and the socialist government of then-president Hugo Chavez to build four oil tankers in Iran on behalf of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA as part of a wider global order for 42 ships. According to sources and backed up by shipping data, the Iranian order was never completed. A former adviser to PDVSA's maritime subsidiary involved in the deal said the imposition of tougher sanctions in 2012…

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.

Guyana's new government on Monday attacked a decree by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro which it said seeks to annex Guyanese maritime space in the wake of an oil discovery. The dispute between the South American neighbors goes back to the early 19th Century and has resurged after an offshore oil discovery by ExxonMobil Corp last month. The decree creates a theoretical new "defense" zone offshore that would, in Venezuela's eyes, leave the former British colony with no direct access to the Atlantic. "Guyana rejects this illegality which seeks to undermine our development through the exploitation of our natural resources offshore," added the statement.

A former minister in President Nicolas Maduro's government denied in an interview published on Friday accusations of corruption during the purchase of three ferries from Spain and said he was being hounded for denouncing currency crimes. Local media said an arrest warrant was issued earlier this month for Hebert Garcia, a general who served as transportation and food minister for Maduro, on charges of embezzlement in the 50 million euro ($54 million) purchase in 2013. Maduro, elected to replace the late Hugo Chavez two years ago, has vowed this week to step up a crackdown on corruption, be it from opponents or within his ruling Socialist Party. But foes accuse him of protecting the worst offenders.

A World Bank tribunal has ordered Venezuela to pay oil service company Tidewater around $46 million in compensation for seized vessels, in a decision the South American country hailed as a victory. The claim, one of many similar cases, stems from the 14-year rule of late leader Hugo Chavez, who made sweeping nationalizations a cornerstone of his socialist administration. However, this award is far smaller than the hefty arbitration decisions that have hit cash-strapped Venezuela in recent months. Eleven Tidewater ships were seized in 2009 by Venezuelan authorities after signing a law to nationalize them, according to Tidewater. "The much higher amounts claimed were rejected because the tribunal found that the nationalization was lawful…

CARACAS/HOUSTON, March 13 (Reuters) - A subtle change in office attire may be the most telling symbol of a quiet revolution taking place inside Venezuela's troubled economic engine, giant oil firm PDVSA. For years, PDVSA employees were encouraged to wear red shirts in support of late President Hugo Chavez's socialist movement. Rafael Ramirez, the former oil czar famously vowed the state-owned firm would be "redder than red" and sent workers to state rallies. Over the past few months, however, the company's new management - led by president Eulogio del Pino, a low-profile Stanford-educated engineer - has eased up on revolutionary garb and attendance at militant gatherings, according to sources within and outside the company.

Anglo American is seeking compensation from Venezuela at a World Bank tribunal over the 2012 cancellation of mining concessions by late president Hugo Chavez's government. The World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) said on its website the claim was introduced on Thursday, but gave no more details. Venezuela faces more than 20 international compensation cases in disputes largely stemming from the 1999-2013 Chavez era. He died from cancer in 2013, with a protege, Nicolas Maduro, winning election to replace him. The best-known cases are multi-billion compensation claims by ExxonMobil Corp and ConocoPhillips over nationalizations.

According to a report from the Xinhua News Agency, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on March 21 that the central government has taken over all the country's maritime ports and airports from local governments. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has emerged as a leading OPEC oil price hawk, said he did not want world oil prices to fall from last year's level, when they averaged their highest in 17 years. Despite complaints from the United States and Europe that high oil prices were damaging economic growth, the South American leader said current prices, about $2.50 per barrel below last year's average, were not high enough. "It is vital for us that the average oil barrel price is maintained around where it was last year, at $26.28 per barrel (for Venezuela's basket)," Chavez told a gathering of public sector workers. "This year the price has been below last year…

Venezuela and Cuba signed 16 new cooperation agreements in a move that further boosts the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a regional economic and social integration initiative launched by the two countries. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage attended the signing ceremony held in Caracas. The accords are far reaching in the fields of transport, finances, agriculture, mining, industry, tourism and electricity, according to reports. The agreements also include the possibility of setting up two joint ventures in transportation, particularly shipbuilding and port modernization. The production of stainless steel and ferrous nickel was part of an agreement in the field of mining…

Venezuela's State oil company, PDVSA, said it has signed a deal with Brazilian industrial conglomerates Eisa and Maua Jurong to build ten oil tankers in Venezuela. The joint venture will produce at least eight Panamax tankers, the largest type of vessel capable of navigating the present locks of the Panama Canal. PDVSA plans to increase its total fleet to 42 ships by 2012, the company statement said. President Hugo Chavez has been working to forge stronger ties with Brazilian companies while reducing Venezuela's dependence on the United States as its top buyer by trying to find new markets in Latin America and Asia. Source: Panama Bulletin