Chevron activity accelerates in Venezuela
Chevron had limited operations in Venezuela due to former President Donald Trump’s sanctions
A long-running shipment of Venezuelan crude to US refineries is about to set sail, reports in Caracas. Oil producer Chevron plans to send oil to a refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, after obtaining a US license in 2022.
according to Reutersa 500,000 barrel cargo of Hamaca heavy crude originating from the Petropia joint venture.
The Bahamas-flagged Caribbean Voyager was reported to be ready for loading near the port of Jose, operated by PDVSA. Also chartered by Chevron, the UACC Eagle arrived in Venezuelan waters on Tuesday carrying about 500,000 barrels of heavy naphtha to support the operations of Petropia’s crude upgrade vessel. .
In November 2022, Chevron won a six-month license to expand its operations in Venezuela, facilitating dialogue between the Nicolás Maduro government and the country’s political opposition.
Washington had previously authorized Italy’s ENI SPA and Spain’s Repsol SA to recover Venezuela’s outstanding debt by refining Venezuelan crude oil in Europe.
The report further noted that the approved shipments could slightly boost Venezuela’s crude oil exports.
Meanwhile, Martin Philipsen of Chevron Venezuela has been appointed General Manager of Petropia. The current general manager of his US Chevron in Venezuela, he joined Petropiar on December 8th. It is the first time that a Venezuelan official is not in charge of managing an oil company as a whole, as Venezuelan law stipulates that he must maintain a majority for the PDVSA. Stock holding.
Philipsen has an engineering degree from the Boschfeld University in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, a master’s degree in production and energy engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology, and a master’s degree in economics and business administration from the French Petroleum Institute. increase.
In early December 2022, the Venezuelan Ministry of Petroleum, PDVSA, and Chevron Venezuela announced that Petroboscan, Petroindependiente, Petropia, and Petroindependent after the U.S. Department of the Treasury approved a new license allowing Chevron to expand. Signed four contracts to start operations at four joint ventures in Shea. domestic business.
Chevron CEO and president Mike Worth said in a TV interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 4 that the oil company is the only US company with a presence in Venezuela. He also explained that while the license would ease sanctions, it still needs time to ramp up production.
“The Gulf Coast refineries were actually designed to process crude from Venezuela. They owe us some money for loans and things we’ve been doing over the years. told Bloomberg.
Other reports, citing the www.argusmedia.com website, said Chevron had already started loading Venezuelan oil onto the charter vessel Beauty One over the weekend, but a US company was behind the deal. There was no confirmation.
The Beauty One tanker arrived in Bajo Grande on December 21, Argus reported. However, it clarified that “vessel tracking data does not confirm that Chevron is the charterer of Beauty One.”
Argus also said UACC Eagle will load 620,400 barrels of naphtha at José on 5 January, according to Vortexa data. It is “an important diluent for extra-heavy Orinoco crude oil. Iran provides Venezuela with naphtha as part of an oil cooperation agreement,” he explained.
Chevron had limited operations in Venezuela due to former President Donald Trump’s sanctions. Things changed under Joseph Biden, but it wasn’t until last November that it became official when Chevron was allowed to partially resume operations.
Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tarek El Aissami, accused of drug trafficking and paid a bounty for being caught in the US, shook hands with a US envoy.
At the same time, Eni and Repsol expect more concessions and Europe needs energy without Russian supplies, according to the Venezuelan Petroleum Chamber (CPV).
Two years ago, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro promised PDVSA production to reach 1.5 million barrels per day (bpds). However, he remains at 693,000 bpd as of November 2022, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).