Page 18 - LatAmOil Week 01 2021

LatAmOil VENEZUEL A LatAmOil

US sanctions drive Halliburton

to remove all Venezuela staff

HOUSTON-BASED Halliburton, one of the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Wash-
world’s largest oilfield services providers, has ington was investigating whether a number of
reportedly removed all staff from its offices in firms were violating the sanctions that were
Venezuela in light of US sanctions policy. imposed on PdVSA in January 2019 by trading
The company has been ramping down oper- oil. According to previous reports, that probe
ations in the South American country since last targeted three Mexican companies and two
April, when the US government instructed it to European oil trading companies were report-
wind up its activities there. Officials in Wash- edly being investigated.
ington also said at that time that they expected The US is traditionally the Latin American
Halliburton’s main rivals – Schlumberger, Baker country’s principal market for crude exports.
Hughes and Weatherford International – to do But with the US market closed and global energy
the same. demand drying up because of the coronavirus
Halliburton appears to have carried out (COVID-19) pandemic, PdVSA has had to shut
these instructions. “We have zero headcount in wells, and its export volumes have dropped this
Venezuela,” a company spokeswoman said in year to their lowest levels seen in more than 70
an email to Reuters in late December. She also years. The firm expects its earnings from oil
noted, though, that the service provider did exports in 2021 to nearly halve to $35 per barrel.
intend to keep some equipment and facilities in
the country. “Creative efforts to avoid sanctions”
Halliburton and others had already scaled News of Halliburton’s move came shortly after
back operations in Venezuela, citing opera- Reuters reported that three little-known compa-
tional issues at state-run PdVSA (and late pay- nies based in the UAE – Asia Charm, Issa Ship-
ments by the company), before new restrictions ping and Muhit Maritime – had begun handling
were introduced last year. The US government Venezuelan crude in the second half of 2020.
has also been tightening the enforcement of the The news agency noted in late December
sanctions laws in the hope that such measures that the firms in question had taken control of
will help remove socialist Venezuelan President about half a dozen tankers previously used to
Nicolas Maduro’s grip on power. ship Venezuelan oil and fuels and then renamed
The US imposed sanctions on PdVSA in them before resuming shipments from the
early 2019. It did so in a bid to cripple the coun- South American state.
try’s oil industry and put pressure on Maduro A spokesman for the US State Department
– whose government is already barely able to responded to questions from Reuters by saying
afford food, medicine and other imports – to that Washington was “closely tracking these
step down in favour of an interim government kinds of creative efforts by companies to avoid
led by opposition leader Juan Guaido. sanctions.” Meanwhile, authorities in the UAE
Washington has been tightening the sanc- say they have already launched “a thorough and
tions more tightly in the last year. Last April, US comprehensive investigation” into the matter. ™

GUYANA
ExxonMobil spuds Bulletwood-1

exploration well at Canje block

US-BASED ExxonMobil has reportedly begun block, the Stena Carron drillship hired by Exx-
drilling the Bulletwood-1 exploration well at the onMobil arrived at the site on January 1. Guy-
Canje block offshore Guyana. ana’s Maritime Administration Department
According to Jersey-headquartered West- (MAD) has reported that the well was spudded
mount Energy, an indirect shareholder in the shortly thereafter, the firm said on January 5.

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 07•January•2021