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Venezuela: Troops Suppress Riots in San Felix

One man was killed and 15 people were arrested when a group of people looted businesses and attacked state-owned vehicles in San Felix, Bolivar state, Ultimas Noticias reported July 31. Unconfirmed reports indicated that up to 60 people were arrested. The National Guard deployed armored vehicles to San Felix, and the looting has reportedly subsided. The riots occurred in the midst of high inflation and food shortages as a result of the country’s economic crisis . Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses around the world. We use a unique, intel-based approach to analyze world affairs. Copyright © 2015 Stratfor Global Intelligence, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 221 West 6th Street Suite 400 – Austin, TX 78701, USA unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences | forward email

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Beer shortages loom in Venezuela as troops occupy Caracas warehouse

The head of Venezuela’s liquor store federation has warned beer production has reached ‘zero hour’ amid widespread shortages in raw materials. Photograph: Fernando Llano/AP Venezuela’s largest beer manufacturer is shutting some of its breweries, blaming a lack of imported barley, as its parent company remains locked in a wider dispute with the country’s government. The federation of beer brewers announced on Thursday that the beer-making subsidiary of Empresas Polar would suspend operations at two of its six plants owing to the shortage. Polar is Venezuela’s largest privately held company and distributes a majority of the country’s beer. Venezuelan troops, meanwhile, occupied a Caracas warehouse complex used by Empresas Polar and Nestlé, workers and company officials said on Thursday. The government says the land is needed for housing for the poor. A Nestlé spokesman, Andres Alegrett, said the company had been informed by the facility’s owner that the area was […]

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Report: Cuba may get oil help from Angola

Cuban energy company reaching out to Middle East counterparts for help with offshore oil development. Photo by GVictoria/Shutterstock HAVANA, July 21 (UPI) — Cuba expects to kick start its deepwater oil exploration activity with assistance from Angola’s state-run energy company Sonangol, a Cuban official said. Cuba is opening its doors more for Western powers after a long Cold War policy of isolation from the United States. The country in the past worked to cut the amount of oil it imports from Venezuela through development of its own offshore reserves. An unnamed official from Cuba’s Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, told energy reporting service Argus the preliminary deal with Sonangol outlines drilling schedules. "The matters to be determined include which of the blocks contracted by Sonangol will be drilled, the sourcing of a rig and the timing of the start of the work," the official said. The U.S. Geological Survey, which reviewed […]

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Venezuela orders producers to divert food to state stores

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Private companies in Venezuela say the government has ordered them to distribute food staples to a network of state-run supermarkets amid chronic shortages of basic goods. The Food Industry Chamber said Monday that authorities ordered producers of milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar and flour to supply between 30 percent and 100 percent of their products to the state stores. The chamber says there are 15 times as many private stores in the socialist South American country as state-run ones. Chamber President Pablo Baraybar says the order could cause major supply problems. Government officials could not be reached for comment. Rigid currency controls and a shortage of U.S. dollars make it difficult for Venezuelans to find imported goods. Companies say controls make it hard to turn a profit and justify production.

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Shale does not mean end to Argentina’s natural gas imports: IAPG

Argentina likely will continue to import natural gas supplies to meet peak demand, even as its production from large shale and tight gas resources grows in the next two decades, the Argentine Institute of Oil and Gas (IAPG) said. This is because it would not be economically viable to install production and transport infrastructure to meet peak demand in winter, due to the high cost of maintaining excess capacity simply to have it available for up to 90 days of the year, the industry group said in its gas demand forecast for 2015-2035. "It is cheaper to import LNG, than to build infrastructure and drill wells to meet peak demand," said IAPG president Ernesto Lopez Anadon. IAPG forecast that gas demand would rise to 260 million cubic meters/d in 2035, with peaks of 290 million cu m/d in the May-September cold season. That compares with average gas demand of […]

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Venezuela expands oil blending scheme with Nigeria crude buys: traders

An oil tank is seen at PDVSA’s Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui April 15, 2015. Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA has bought two 1-million barrel cargoes of Nigerian crude from Royal Dutch Shell in the past month to be used as diluents for its extra heavy oil, traders told Reuters. Venezuela, which has the world’s largest crude reserves, began importing a variety of crudes for the first time last year, using them to dilute the OPEC nation’s heavy grades in order to reduce costs and create better blends for customers. PDVSA imported some 4 million barrels of Algerian Saharan Blend crude from October to January under a supply contract with state-owned Sonatrach during the maintenance of a heavy-crude upgrader, which it says saved $10 to $20 a barrel. It is also buying Russian Urals crude for its Isla refinery and a storage terminal on […]

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Premier Oil raises exploration budget to spend more in Falklands

Oil producer Premier Oil has increased its 2015 exploration budget by $20 million to account for higher investments in its drilling campaign in the Falkland Islands, the company said in a trading update on Thursday. The London-listed firm, whose operations stretch from the Falkland Islands to Indonesia, also said it had received an offer for its Pakistan business and was starting a process with interested parties to dispose of those assets. The company expects revenue in the first half of 2015 of $580 million, down 34 percent from a year earlier due to lower oil prices and lower production levels as the result of a disposal. Premier Oil is scheduled to report half-year results on August 20.

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Report: Brazil’s Petrobras wading dark waters

Brazilian oil ambitions may be larger than reality, a survey from British energy consultant group Douglas-Westwood finds. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/project1photography LONDON, July 6 (UPI) — British energy consultant Douglas-Westwood said the prospects of turning 16 billion barrels of potential Brazilian barrels of oil into reality may be dubious. Douglas-Westwood said it was questioning whether Brazilian energy company Petrobras can turn ambition into reality in deepwater prospects. "Brazil’s huge deepwater potential remains constrained with Petrobras having to revise their production target for 2020, which now forecasts domestic oil output to increase to 2.8 million barrels per day – 40 percent lower than its projection 12 months ago," a forecast published Monday read. Petrobras last week published a management plan through 2019 that reflects the downturn in crude oil prices. The Brazilian company cut overall spending plans by 40 percent, but allocated 84 percent of that to exploration and production, […]

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Eni starts production at giant Venezuelan gas field

Italian energy company Eni announces start to gas production at field in Venezuela said to be among the largest in the world. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr. CARACAS, Venezuela, July 6 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Monday it started production at the Perla gas field, the largest field of its kind found off the coast of Venezuela. "Perla was for Eni one of the most significant start-up projects of 2015, and the today result confirms the validity of our development model that allowed us to reach production in an industry-leading time to market," Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said in a statement. Considered among some of the largest gas discoveries in the world, Eni said the Perla field off the coast of Venezuela holds an estimated 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It’s situated about 30 miles offshore in the Cardon IV reserve area, […]

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Oil Selloff Sinks Petrobras as Ibovespa Extends Weekly Decline

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the world’s most-indebted oil company, led losses in the Ibovespa as oil slumped on concern supplies are too high. Shares of Petrobras extended a three-day plunge as crude sank 4.2 percent to $56.96 a barrel after data showing U.S. stockpiles rose for the first time in nine weeks and OPEC production increased. The state-run company has said that investments in oil and gas offshore production are economically viable with the commodity above $45. “There are too many uncertainties regarding the profitability of Petrobras’s investments as crude falls,” Eduardo Velho, the chief economist at investment firm INVX Global Partners, said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. The Ibovespa retreated 0.6 percent to 52,757.54 at the close of trading in Sao Paulo, bringing this week’s decline to 2.3 percent. The gauge had posted the best first half of any year since 2009. Brazilian shares swung between gains […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple