Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 12 2023

LatAmOil VENEZUELA LatAmOil

He has ordered an audit into the heavy losses
that the NOC sustained last year, when a num-
ber of oil tankers left the country without first
making proper payments for cargo.
These tankers were operated by dozens of
little-known intermediary companies hired
to help Venezuela export oil in defiance of US
sanctions, according to documents cited by
Reuters on March 21.
The documents indicate that PdVSA has
accumulated $21.2bn worth of arrearages and
unpaid sales as a result of these events, the news
agency said. Indeed, it commented, this sum is
large enough, given that it is equivalent to about
84% of the total value of the NOC’s invoiced
shipments, to explain Tellechea’s decision to
freeze supply contracts upon his takeover as
head of PdVSA.
Tellechea first achieved prominence as the Maduro (L) promoted Tellechea (R) on March 21 (Photo: Twitter/@NicolasMaduro)
head of Venezuela’s state chemical company
Pequiven. Under his stewardship, the company another will succeed him at the NOC.
achieved a boost in petrochemical exports that Maduro, for his part, has yet to clarify the
provided a much-needed influx of cash flow for matter. When the president announced Telle-
the Maduro administration. He has retained his chea’s appointment on March 20, he declared
position at Pequiven even after taking the helm his intention of restructuring PdVSA but did
at PdVSA, but it is not clear whether he will not elaborate beyond saying that his govern-
continue to do so now that he is headed to the ment would be “going to the root” to stamp out
Ministry of Petroleum. Nor is it clear whether corruption. ™

GUYANA
EPA dismisses critics’ call for “unlimited

insurance” against oil spills at Stabroek

GUYANA’S Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has dismissed local critics’ demands
that it secure “unlimited” insurance coverage
to protect itself against the consequences of an
oil spill at the offshore Stabroek block, saying it
has already taken adequate steps to protect the
country.
In a statement released last week, the EPA
reiterated that it was committed to ensuring
that Guyana’s government would not be held
liable in the event of an oil spill at Stabroek,
which encompasses the country’s only produc-
ing oilfields.
Under the documents signed in 2016 with
subsidiaries of ExxonMobil (US), Hess (US) and ExxonMobil and its partners can be held liable for spills at Stabroek (Image: Hess)
China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC),
it explained, liability for environmental acci- Guyana. “[It] must be emphasised that beyond
dents can default to the parent company of any permit conditions and the EPA Act [that]
of the block’s current permit holders should addresses the liability of permit holders and
such an unlikely spill arise. ensures that environmental damage will not go
In other words, the EPA noted, if crude unpunished or unremedied through the vicari-
leaks into the ocean from any the fields at ous liability principle, a parent company can be
Stabroek, ExxonMobil, Hess and/or CNOOC held liable for unfulfilled obligations (default) of
will be responsible for the clean-up, rather than its subsidiaries,” the agency said in its statement.

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