Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 09 2023

LatAmOil VENEZUELA LatAmOil

Chevron began delivering Venezuelan oil to the Pascagoula refinery in January (Photo: Chevron)

But as of February 23, only 1mn barrels had exceed 900,000 bpd, not even with the help of
finished loading from Venezuela to the US, the Chevron,” he remarked. He went on to describe
Vortexa data indicated. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s goal
The potential gaps between expectations and of pushing output up to 2mn bpd by the end of
actuality stems directly from constraints on the 2023 as unrealistic.
country’s production infrastructure. Many of Aside from structural issues, Venezuela still
Venezuela’s oil and gas facilities are damaged, faces politically motivated logistical constraints.
worn or in decline after years of neglect, while While the US government has dialled back its
its ageing port and pipeline infrastructure are sanctions, the abilities of US-based companies
also inadequate. Furthermore, Lake Maracaibo, such as Chevron to invest in Venezuela remain
which is home to a significant portion of this limited under licences from the US Treasury
infrastructure, requires further dredging. Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
At present, Venezuela is producing around (OFAC).
700,000 bpd of oil, and economist Rafael Quiroz Moreover, security continues to pose prob-
told Argus that some further increases were pos- lems, with the nation’s oil capital of Maracaibo
sible – but only up to a point. “We might barely being consistently ranked among the most dan-
reach 1mn bpd, but I do not believe that we will gerous cities in the world.. ™

GUYANA
Guyana considers extending offshore

bidding round deadline, minister says

GUYANA’S government says the country’s first
competitive bidding round has attracted con-
siderable attention, with more than 20 interna-
tional oil companies (IOCs) expressing interest
in the 14 blocks on offer.
As a result, Georgetown is considering
extending the submission deadline so that more
companies can prepare proposals. The end date
for the bidding period is currently set to fall on
April 14.
Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat
confirmed last week that many major IOCs had
already submitted bids, with 10 having already
paid the $20,000 entry fee for access to the data
room.
“[Ten] companies actually paid the fee to get
into the data room so ... those companies we can Fourteen offshore blocks are included in the bidding context (Image: GO-Invest)
say safely that we are sure about ... [In] terms of
interest, we probably have double that in terms potential investors but indicated that they were
of companies reaching out to us for additional heavy hitters. “I may not be able to tell you com-
information on the bid round,” he said. panies by name, but it is some of the major IOCs
Bharrat declined to identify any of the around the world,” he stated.

Week 09 01•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P9