Venezuela’s Gasoline Shortage Is Worsening
Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA suspended gasoline production at the El Palito refinery after a problem with a valve led to a fire, unnamed sources familiar with the incident told Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Oil Exports Double in November As Mysterious New Buyers Emerge
Venezuela’s oil exports doubled in November, data from PDVSA and Refinitiv Eikon showed on Wednesday. Venezuela’s crude oil exports were less than 370,000 barrels per day in October, on average. Continue Reading
Fracking activity in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta surges in November
Fracking activity in Vaca Muerta shot up 58% month on month in November, reaching the highest level this year, according to data released Dec. 1, as Mexico’s Vista Oil & Continue Reading
Venezuela Triples Oil Exports Using Ghost Tankers
Venezuela boosted its crude oil exports nearly threefold in November to more than 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), including by hiding the true identity of tankers to avoid detection, Bloomberg Continue Reading
Is Brazil’s Oil Boom In Danger?
Brazil’s massive offshore oil boom, notably in the deepwater offshore pre-salt oilfields, is continuing to grow despite weaker oil prices and the sharp impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Strong demand Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Oil Crisis Is An Environmental Time Bomb
The international media think tanks and government agencies have discussed at length the near failure of Venezuela, once Latin America’s most stable and developed nation, and the emergence of this Continue Reading
The Single Biggest Threat To Venezuela’s Future
It was not too long ago that copious oil reserves such as the 303 billion barrels located in Venezuela, which are the world’s largest, were viewed as a tremendous economic Continue Reading
U.S. wants six former Citgo executives convicted in Venezuela to be returned: Pompeo
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media prior to meeting with Kuwait’s Foreign Minister in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 24, 2020. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS Continue Reading
Judge in Venezuela Convicts 6 U.S. Oil Executives of Corruption
Jorge Arreaza/Venezuela Foreign Minister, via Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela — A Venezuelan judge on Thursday found six American oil executives guilty of a wide-ranging corruption scheme and immediately sentenced them Continue Reading
Peru’s Oil Industry Is Engulfed In Crisis
A combination of sharply weaker oil prices, inconsistent regulation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and constant conflict in the Amazon where most of Peru’s onshore oil industry is located has triggered a Continue Reading
Fuel for Thought: Argentina puts fresh focus on developing Vaca Muerta, but concerns abound
After a bout of financial turmoil in Argentina last month, the government has restored calm in the markets and turned its attention once again to the development of Vaca Muerta, Continue Reading
Venezuela Arrests Oil Workers To Cover Up Bad Press About PDVSA
Venezuela’s regime has recently arrested oil workers or retired oil workers who have dared to expose the corruption and mismanagement at its state oil firm PDVSA and its dire financial, Continue Reading
Desperate Venezuelans Attempt To Refine Gasoline At Home
Fuel shortages in Venezuela are so bad amid the deepening crisis at its state oil firm that Venezuelans are stealing crude oil from idle oilfields and processing it at home Continue Reading
Venezuela Opposition Fights Creditors for Control of Billions in Global Assets
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whom the U.S. considers Venezuela’s legitimate president, during a rally last month. Creditors from hedge funds to oil companies are moving closer to seizing billions of Continue Reading
Why Biden’s Approach To Venezuela Is So Important For Oil Markets
In a hard-fought campaign Democrat Joe Biden won the November 2020 U.S. presidential race beating incumbent Donald Trump. There were considerable fears in the run-up to the election that a Continue Reading
US Treasury extends Chevron’s Venezuela presence to mid-2021
The US Treasury said Nov. 17 that Chevron and top oilfield services firms can remain in Venezuela until June, extending a wind-down deadline that was set to expire on Dec. Continue Reading
Exxon’s Deepest Guyana Oil Well Disappoints
After a series of major oil discoveries offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil and partners found that the deepest well drilled so far offshore the Latin American country did not have commercial potential Continue Reading
Argentina’s Huge Vaca Muerta Shale Could Become A Stranded Asset
Sharply weaker oil prices, growing threats to oil demand and the imminent arrival of peak oil demand could unleash a wave of stranded oil assets in South America. Among the Continue Reading
Category 4 Hurricane Iota slams into Nicaragua
Nicaragua, on Monday as Hurricane Iota — upgraded to Category 5 — moves over the Caribbean toward the Nicaragua-Honduras border. MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Hurricane Iota, the strongest storm ever recorded Continue Reading
Last U.S. Oil Major in Venezuela Looks to Biden to Keep Foothold
Chevron Corp.’s willingness to keep a foothold in oil-rich Venezuela will now be a thorny political issue for President-elect Joe Biden to sort out. The U.S. Treasury Department extended until June 3 its Continue Reading
Strongest Storm of Hurricane Season Strikes Central America
Hurricane Iota slammed into Central America late Monday with ferocious winds and rain, threatening to cripple a region already reeling from a deadly storm two weeks ago. Iota, the most powerful Continue Reading
Brazil Is Emerging As The World’s Leading Offshore Oil Producer
Sharply weaker oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, and heightened geopolitical uncertainty have done little to blunt Brazil’s epic offshore oil boom. By September 2020 Brazil had soared to be the Continue Reading
PDVSA Chief Goes to Russia To “Deepen Ties”
The head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, Asdrubal Chavez, and Venezuelan vice-president and economy minister Delcy Rodriguez are visiting Russia today to “deepen strategic alliances,” Reuters reported , citing Continue Reading
Will Venezuela’s Economic Crisis Remove Maduro From Power?
In desperation, Maduro’s autocratic regime has turned to Iran, another pariah state, for assistance. The collapse of Venezuela’s once-mighty oil industry has not only caused the Latin American country’s economy Continue Reading
Can Colombia Replicate Brazil’s Offshore Oil Boom?
While offshore Brazil , Guyana and to a lesser extent Suriname are gaining the lion’s share of attention when it comes to South American offshore oil, with opportunities opening-up in Continue Reading
Why South America’s Offshore Oil Sector Is Exploding
Nearly a decade ago South America’s emerging offshore oil boom was viewed as a fad triggered by soaring oil prices which by 2011 had recovered from the Great Recession to Continue Reading
A Glimmer Of Hope For Colombia’s Struggling Oil Industry
Despite significant headwinds, including a prolonged oil price slump, Colombia’s national oil company Ecopetrol r eported a solid third quarter 2020 profit with net income of around $222 billion. This Continue Reading
Venezuela oil flow sags, Iran offers more help
Venezuela’s crude production entered November on a downswing after the US banned non-US companies from crude-for-diesel swaps at the end of October. Output was slipping below an October average of Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Oil Exports Continue To Plunge
Venezuela’s crude oil exports last month fell further, to a low of 359,000 bpd, Reuters reported , citing official data. The decline was the result of the expiry of a Continue Reading
Chile aims to become major hydrogen producer by 2030
The Chilean government has set itself ambitious targets to become one of the world’s leading exporters of green hydrogen by the end of the decade, taking advantage of the country’s Continue Reading
Hurricane Eta Menaces Central America With Devastating Winds
Hurricane Eta has strengthened into one of the Atlantic’s most powerful storms of the year, packing winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) an hour as it roars toward Central America. The Continue Reading
Argentina Is In Desperate Need Of An Oil Boom
The administration of Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández is growing increasingly desperate to restart the burgeoning oil boom which was underway before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Argentina has been one of Continue Reading
Can Ecuador Save Its Ailing Oil Sector?
The tiny impoverished Latin American country of Ecuador continues to struggle with its legacy of resource nationalism. Even a push by the current administration of President Lenin Moreno to implement Continue Reading
What would a Joe Biden presidency mean for Venezuela?
‘Whether Trump or Biden wins, we will confront and defeat him,’ Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said, leaving little doubt as to his intentions toward whomever finds himself in the Oval Continue Reading
Could Fracking Help Save Colombia’s Oil Dependent Economy?
For almost a decade the Andean country of Colombia has been battling to significantly boost its low proven petroleum reserves and lengthen the production life of its economically vital oil Continue Reading
Resource estimate at Guyana’s Stabroek block raised to 9 billion boe: Hess
Estimated resources at the ExxonMobil-led offshore Stabroek block in Guyana have been raised to roughly 9 billion boe, up from more than 8 billion boe earlier this year, thanks to Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Maduro says Amuay refinery was hit by a ‘terrorist attack’
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday said the country’s Amuay oil refinery was victim of a terrorist attack on Tuesday that involved a “powerful weapon”, but said the country had Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Oil Industry Could Take Decades To Recover
There are considerable concerns that the vast oil reserves of Venezuela, totaling a billion barrels, could become a stranded asset. It was Venezuela’s burgeoning post-World War One oil boom which Continue Reading
Will Colombia’s Struggling Oil Industry Ever Recover?
After a positive start to 2020 there is little evidence of a sustained recovery for the Andean country’s economically crucial oil industry. Significantly weaker oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic and Continue Reading
EU summons Venezuela envoy in response to expulsion order
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference after a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the Region, in videoconference format at the European Council Continue Reading
Latest Sign of Venezuela’s Oil Collapse Is 84% Surge in Supplies
Venezuelan crude inventories have surged 84% over the last three weeks as the threat of U.S. sanctions ward away buyers of the nation’s most important commodity. That raises the risk Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Oil Major Sees Oil At $35 Through 2021
Venezuela’s state oil company has made a pessimistic estimate for next year’s oil prices, expecting to make just $35 per barrel for the crude it exports, Reuters has reported . Continue Reading
Argentina To Subsidize Shale Gas Production With $5.1 Billion
Argentina will give subsidies of a total of US$5.1 billion to shale gas drillers in an attempt to revive production in its Vaca Muerta shale play and attract as much Continue Reading
PDVSA crude storage vessel holding more than 1 mil barrels at risk of sinking: sources
The floating storage and offloading vessel Nabarima is in danger of sinking off the Venezuelan coast with more than 1 million barrels of crude, but state-owned oil company PDVSA does Continue Reading
The End Of Venezuela’s Oil Era
Venezuela, once Latin America’s largest oil producer and a founding member of OPEC, has seen its economically vital oil industry collapse triggering one of the worst economic and humanitarian crises Continue Reading
Brazil’s Oil Giant Petrobras Raises Production Forecast
Thanks to increased production at the prolific pre-salt offshore basin, Petrobras expects its oil and gas production this year to exceed earlier guidance, Brazil’s state oil firm said as it Continue Reading
There’s Nothing That Can Stop The World’s Next Oil Hotspot
While the deeply impoverished South American country of Guyana is attracting the lion’s share of attention when it comes to oil, it is neighboring Suriname where the next major petroleum Continue Reading
A Slow Motion Oil Crisis Is Unfolding In The Carribean
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of uncertainty and dread right in the moments before a disaster of gargantuan proportions unfolds in front of our eyes. We might be living Continue Reading
Venezuela’s Government Seeks to Revive Moribund Debt Talks
The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is approaching some of the nation’s creditors in a bid to lay the groundwork for a debt deal should sanctions ease after next Continue Reading
Argentina Looks To Attract $5B Investment To Boost Shale Gas Production
Argentina unveiled this week a new plan for natural gas development, looking to attract US$5 billion in company investments to revitalize gas production in the Vaca Muerta shale play and Continue Reading