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With goods scarce in Caracas’s stores, street sales boom and officials glower

Milagro Alvarez holds her 5-month-old daughter, Annabeth, as she waits in line inside a Farmatodo pharmacy in hopes of buying more disposable diapers in downtown Caracas, Venezuela. The store refused to sell her diapers because of a government rationing system that allows her to buy only two packages of 20 diapers per week. (Ariana Cubillos/AP) CARACAS, Venezuela — The sprawling street market that radiates outward from the metro station in Petare, Caracas’s largest slum, is the retail equivalent of an anti-Target. There’s no organization to it. Tube socks and school supplies are sold beside giant pyramids of pineapple and piled yucca. Leopard-print hot pants stretch over mannequin buttocks next to the stinky stalls of fishmongers. The bazaar was known until this month as one of the city’s biggest open-air black markets, the place to find all the scarce items that shoppers must queue up for hours to get in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Premier Oil Reduces Falklands Sea Lion Project Size on Costs

Premier Oil Plc (PMO) , a British oil explorer, said it will develop a smaller portion of its Sea Lion project in the Falklands as it seeks to cut costs. The initial phase will yield 160 million barrels of oil with costs for first output estimated at less than $2 billion, the London-based company said today without specifying earlier estimates for the project. Premier plans to sink a well in March and one in April and will continue to seek a partner, Chief Executive Officer Tony Durrant said in a phone interview. “Following a project review, Sea Lion will now progress initially as a smaller development,” it said in the statement. “The new lower oil price environment and our commitment to maintaining a strong financial position has caused Premier to re-examine the scheme with a view to reducing” the spend prior to first cash flows from the field, it said. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Price a Concern Says Venezuela as Al-Naimi Visits

The price of oil is a “concern for everyone,” Venezuela ’s representative to OPEC said after a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s oil minister yesterday. Rafael Ramirez, who is also Venezuela’s foreign minister, told reporters at a climate-change conference on Margarita Island that Saudi Arabia’s participation at the event was part of a meeting between friends. The Middle East nation is the biggest producer in the Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a 12-member group responsible for about 40 percent of the world’s oil supply. Brent crude has collapsed to the lowest level in more than four years amid speculation that global supply is outpacing demand. OPEC’s leading producers are responding by cutting prices, resisting calls to reduce supply as they compete with the highest U.S. output in three decades. Ramirez greeted Saudi Arabia’s Ali Al-Naimi as he arrived at the event before they began a private meeting, stopping briefly for […]

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Venezuela Scraps Plans to Sell U.S. Refining Arm Citgo Petroleum

Venezuela shelved a planned sale of about $10 billion in U.S. refineries as surging North American crude output pushes down energy prices and profit margins. The country ruled out selling its U.S.-based refining subsidiary Citgo Petroleum Corp., Finance minister Rodolfo Marco Torres told Caracas-based El Universal in an interview published yesterday. The nation will keep investing in Citgo, he said, echoing comments made by President Nicolas Maduro last month. Citgo said in a July 29 filing that state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA was looking for a buyer, threatening to undermine bondholders and other creditors by removing a sovereign asset that could be seized in the U.S. in the event of a default. Former oil minister Rafael Ramirez said in August that Citgo was worth at least $10 billion, while Barclays Plc said last month that the company’s equity value is between $7 billion and $9 billion. “Refining […]

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Trinidad Refinery Swaps Crude Sources on Ebola Scare

Trinidad & Tobago is substituting crude from Gabon with Colombian and Russian shipments amid protests by refinery workers alarmed by the outbreak of Ebola in other African countries. Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine halted oil purchases from Gabon, the Caribbean country’s only African supplier in the past 20 months, he said in an e-mailed response to questions. The decision follows the refusal of workers from Petrotrin, which operates Trinidad’s sole refinery, to assist with the berthing of a tanker that arrived in Trinidad waters on Oct. 18 from Gabon. The vessel, called Overseas Yellowstone, eventually docked late yesterday using outsourced tugs and labor, Ramnarine said. “The situation is dynamic and we will review if need be,” the minister wrote. “It should, however, be noted that there is no Ebola outbreak in Gabon.” Gabon, which has had Ebola outbreaks in 2001-2002, 1996-1997 and 1994, is not among countries currently citing cases […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Scandal Over Brazilian Oil Company Adds Turmoil to the Presidential Race

RIO DE JANEIRO — Paulo Roberto Costa was living an oilman’s dream. He had a house in a luxurious gated community here. He bought a yacht and drove an armored Range Rover. He had more than $25 million stashed in bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. But that dream evaporated recently when the police arrested Mr. Costa and charged him with orchestrating a bribery scheme on an epic scale at Petrobras, Brazil ’s national oil company, and funneling the proceeds to the governing Workers Party and its allies while enriching himself. The case has presented a major challenge to President Dilma Rousseff , who is in a bitter re-election fight against Aécio Neves, a centrist who has been gaining momentum as the vote next Sunday approaches. With the two candidates battling each other for the lead in opinion polls, Mr. Neves is seizing on the oil scandal […]

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Venezuela blames U.S for global oil price slump

CARACAS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday blamed Washington for the slump in global oil prices. Washington is "flooding" the market with cheaper shale oil to bring down prices and ultimately impact Russia and other oil-producing nations, Maduro said at a televised Cabinet meeting. "The U.S. and its allies want to affect oil prices to harm Russia, which produces around 10 million barrels per day, and that is the vital income of their economy," said Maduro. Market analysts say a 20-percent dip in oil prices since June is driven by lower economic growth and weak demand for crude in Europe, along with signs that the core Gulf members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are in no hurry to cut production. Maduro called for an extraordinary meeting of the group to explore ways to stabilize international oil prices.

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Chevron: Oil Slide Puts Venezuela Projects Under Pressure

MARGARITA, Venezuela, Oct 15 (Reuters) – The recent slide in global oil prices puts projects under heavy pressure, executives at two major production companies told an industry conference in Venezuela on Wednesday. A four-month rout, which stemmed from signs of lower growth and oil demand in Europe coupled with expectations that OPEC’s core Gulf members are in no hurry to cut production, has left Brent crude below $85. "This scenario puts projects … in Venezuela under big pressure," Chevron Latin America Managing Director Kelly Hartshorn said at the Margarita Island gathering. U.S.-based Chevron and state oil company PDVSA operate the Petroboscan heavy crude joint venture in western Venezuela. Chevron also has a share in the Petropiar oil upgrader in the Orinoco belt. Separately, Statoil Venezuela official Luisa Cipollitti said at the conference that "mega-projects" globally were under threat from the price fall. "Prices … have fallen and we don’t […]

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