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Venezuela Woos Qatar as Oil Rout Exacerbates Cash Crunch

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is seeking several billion dollars from Qatari lenders to help plug a budget gap after oil lost more than half its value. “We’re finalizing a financial alliance with important banks from Qatar that will give us sufficient oxygen to help cover the fall in oil prices and give us the resources we need for the national foreign currency budget,” he said on state television. Maduro, Hugo Chavez ’s hand-picked successor, is turning to Asia and the Middle East for relief as crude’s nosedive of more than 50 percent erodes international reserves and funding options. Boasting the world’s biggest oil reserves, the Latin American nation has seen its crude output slump since 2008 and imports of refined products surge as state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA revenue is diverted to social programs and fuel subsidies. The financing would be for “various” billions of dollars for 2015 and […]

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Venezuela’s Maduro seeks support from Saudi Arabia on oil prices

(Adds Venezuela government comments) RIYADH Jan 11 (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman in Riyadh on Sunday as part of a diplomatic tour of OPEC members to discuss falling oil prices, which have hit its economy hard. The Saudi side in the meeting included Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and several princes including Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin, intelligence chief Prince Khaled bin Bandar and three sons of King Abdullah, who is in hospital, state media reported. No details of the meeting were given by the official Saudi Press Agency and there was no indication that the world’s biggest oil exporter was any closer to taking action to stem the over 50 percent rout in oil prices. The Venezuelan government said in a statement that "we agreed to work to recover the market and oil prices with state policies between the two energy powerhouses." It […]

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Venezuela: Cuban Military Personnel Return Home

Hundreds of Cuban military personnel have reportedly left Venezuela for Cuba, according to unconfirmed reports from former Monagas state Governor Jose Briceno, Diario de Cuba reported Jan. 9. The reason for the movement is unknown. Meanwhile, a group assembled in Caracas’ La Candelaria neighborhood to protest food and goods shortages , El Universal reported. Long waiting lines for basic goods — including corn flour, cooking oil, milk, diapers and deodorant — have become the norm in Venezuela.

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China Boosts Support for Latin Leftists

ENLARGE Venezuela’s Maduro, right, and China’s Xi in Beijing on Wednesday. Andy Wong/Press Pool China pledged billions of dollars of financing to Venezuela and Ecuador, two South American energy exporters battered by falling oil prices, as Beijing moved to secure resources and allies in the region. China has increased its diplomatic clout throughout Latin America by extending over $100 billion in credit to the region since 2005, according to figures from Boston University’s Global Economic Governance Initiative. On Thursday Chinese President Xi Jinping said China’s foreign investment in Latin America would hit $250 billion over the next decade, without offering details. Beijing has become the biggest foreign financier of both Venezuela and Ecuador, two oil-rich, leftist allies eager to help counter U.S. sway in the region. Following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro announced bilateral accords that would bring $20 billion in new […]

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Venezuela: National Police Crack Down On Student Protest

Members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Police used tear gas to disperse a student protest at the Catholic University of Tachira in San Cristobal, Tachira state, NTN 24 reported Jan. 7, citing social media reports. At least two protesters were arrested. The previous night, a separate group of protesters used burning tires to block the Pan American Highway in San Cristobal but were eventually dispersed by police as well. Last year’s wave of protests began in Tachira state with student demonstrations against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

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Venezuelan economy slips into recession

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he’ll outline steps to fix the nation’s economy, as low oil prices push it into recession. File photo UPI CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 31 (UPI) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he’d unveil economic reform efforts next year as an economy linked strongly to oil prices slips into recession. The Central Bank of Venezuela said the collapse in oil prices was in part to blame for a 2.3 percent drop in third quarter gross domestic product. That marks three straight quarters of decline for the member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. With a reform agenda in mind, Maduro said that, with Venezuelan oil valued at around $46 per barrel, it was time to usher in an economic overhaul and a time for opportunity. "Awareness and national unity are required," he said. "Widespread debate and national commitment are needed." As part of the agenda, […]

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Venezuela accuses US of starting oil war to ‘destroy’ Russia and Venezuela

Venezuela relies on oil revenue for 96 percent of its hard currency reserves, so  the plunging price of oil — which has dropped by half in the past six months to $48 a barrel — threatens to destabilize its economy. President Nicolas Maduro has a theory about what’s behind the sudden drop. "Did you know there’s an oil war?” Maduro asked the leaders of Venezuela’s state-run businesses in a speech Monday in which he accused the United States of trying to flood the market with shale oil. “And the war has an objective: to destroy Russia. It’s a strategically planned war … also aimed at Venezuela, to try and destroy our revolution and cause an economic collapse," Maduro added. The boom in U.S. shale oil production has pushed down oil prices worldwide, from $96 a barrel just six months ago, but Maduro’s comments say more about the pressure on his government […]

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Venezuela pledges to reform currency controls

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on December 30, 2014. Venezuela confirmed Tuesday that it has entered recession, while annual inflation topped 63 percent, exacerbating the outlook for an economy already hit by crippling shortages and crashing oil prices. AFP PHOTO/JUAN BARRETO Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s socialist president, pledged to reform tight currency controls as part of a package to revive an oil-dependent economy that is officially in recession trampled by policy paralysis and falling crude prices. “We are going to perfect the currency system,” said Mr Maduro, adding that the details would be revealed in the new year, after putting the blame of the fall in global crude prices on a US-led plan to destabilise Venezuela and, its ally, Russia. Political opponents counter that the anointed successor of the late Hugo Chávez, had stalled on the reforms the Opec country […]

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Lukoil Sells Stake in Venezuela Project to Rosneft

MOSCOW—Russia’s largest privately owned oil company Lukoil said Tuesday it sold its share in a Venezuelan project to state-controlled oil giant Rosneft. Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said its share in the National Oil Consortium LLC, the company that is developing the project called PetroMiranda, rose to 80%. Gazprom Neft , the oil arm of Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom, owns 20%. All the three companies are under Western sanctions imposed for Moscow’s policy toward Ukraine.  Rosneft has consistently increased its cooperation with Venezuela, Chief Executive Igor Sechin said. “Taking into account the future decline of shale production in the U.S. and Canada, it is Venezuelan oil that can become the substitutional element for the receding volumes of those markets,” said Mr. Sechin. Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said the company “is now implementing a number of strategically important projects, both in Russia and abroad. After the […]

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Oil Shakes Venezuelan Debt to Its Foundations

ENLARGE Even before oil prices dropped, Venezuela’s economy was troubled. Rigid currency controls and dollar shortages have brought the economy to a standstill. Above, an unfinished skyscraper in downtown Caracas that was abandoned in the 1990s and has been occupied for years by squatters. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A slide in oil prices is hitting Venezuela hard, raising questions among investors about the South American country’s ability to pay its debts and heightening concerns about the health of developing economies around the world. Venezuelan debt was widely held by emerging-market investors until the summer. Many viewed the bonds as a safe bet because the country brought in ample revenue as a major oil exporter. But a nearly 50% drop in the price of crude since mid-June has left Venezuela’s finances in shambles. The price of credit-default swaps on Venezuela debt, a type of insurance, indicate a 61% chance of default […]

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