Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 10 2020
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PdVSA was forced to stop most of its crude upgrading activity last May because its stocks of unsold oil reached maximum capacity, follow- ing the imposition of new sanctions by the US government.
The administration of President Donald Trump imposed large-scale sanctions on the company early last year in a bid to undermine the country’s oil sector and to put pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro to step down.
The NOC did the same last year with the Petropiar facility, which had mostly been turn- ing out upgraded crude for the US market. Petropiar, which is partly owned by Chevron, now produces around 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Merey-16. This blend of heavy crude has a specific gravity of 16 degrees API and is favoured by Asian refiners.
PdVSA has described the conversion of Petropiar to a blending unit as “part of the socialist efforts underway at the upgraders of the Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex,” according to a Reuters report. The NOC’s four extra-heavy crude upgraders – Petropiar, Ped- rocedeno, Petromonagas and the Petrosanfelix facility – are located in the Jose Antonio Anzo- ategui industrial complex.
Only the Petrosanfelix plant is wholly owned by PdVSA, and it has been offline for more than ayear.
The complex is situated within the Orinoco heavy oil belt, which is the Latin American country’s main oil production area. The Ori- noco belt has an estimated 270bn barrels of oil in recoverable reserves.
Former Shell exec leads efforts to cut Venezuelan gas flaring
A former executive of the Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell is reportedly leading efforts to reduce associated gas flaring in Vene- zuela, following a similar campaign in Iraq.
Mounir Bouaziz, who is now an independent business developer, has been in talks with Ven- ezuela’s oil ministry and state-run oil company PdVSA since last October, according to Reuters. Bouaziz said he would be transparent with inter- national authorities over the project and that it would have social and economic benefits for the Latin American country, the news agency said.
Bouaziz admitted that US sanctions on PdVSA were an obstacle. “We are seeking legal advice on how to deliver this project while complying with any applicable sanctions,” he commented.
The Trump administration imposed sweep- ing sanctions on PdVSA early last year, aimed at hitting the country’s oil exports and forc- ing socialist President Nicolas Maduro to step down.
Washington has recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido, who was declared interim president by legislators last year following reports that Maduro had secured re-election
through fraudulent means.
Venezuela, which has been in economic
turmoil for six years, cannot afford to main- tain its gas facilities. But Bouaziz said that he hoped to raise enough private investment for damaged processing plants to be repaired. This would allow the country to capture and use and the gas that Venezuela currently burns when it is extracted alongside crude oil, he said. The recovered volumes of gas could be sold to PdV- SA’s joint ventures with private oil companies, he added.
Petrocedeno is one of PdVSA’s four heavy crude upgraders (Photo: PdVSA)
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Venezuela has seen gas flaring increase since 2010 (Photo: World Bank)
