Page 8 - LatAmOil Week 29

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Curacao has indicated that it is ready to appoint another operator to manage the re n- ery. It has taken this stance in response to PdV- SA’s inability to ensure crude oil deliveries to the facility.
Restarting Amuay plant
IN related news, PdVSA has reportedly begun to bring the Amuay re nery back on stream. e
plant suspended operations earlier this month because of a blackout, but it has now restarted two distillation units and a catalytic cracking unit, according to Reuters.
The distillation units have a combined capacity of 135,000 bpd, and the catalytic cracker can handle 68,000 bpd. Nevertheless, the re nery is still operating far below its design capacity of 645,000 bpd. ™
BOLIVIA
Barriga: YPFB willing to take new approach to gas talks with Petrobras
BOLIVIA’Snationaloilcompany(NOC)YPFB is looking for a way to re-open negotiations with Brazil on a long-term natural gas supply agree- ment that lapsed at the end of last month.
Oscar Barriga, the president of YPFB, said on July 20 that he was optimistic about a new deal because his company was ready to revise its approach to settling outstanding disputes with its Brazilian counterpart Petrobras. He declined to reveal any speci c details of the company’s new strategy, though, saying that he preferred to focus on the “positive aspects” of renewing talks with Brazil.
Additionally, he did not say when discus- sions might resume.
YPFB has been delivering gas to its Brazilian counterpart Petrobras under a 20-year contract signed in 1999. It has made it clear that it wants to renew the deal, which helped establish Bolivia as an exporter of gas. As of June 30, though, the parties had yet to reach agreement on the terms of renewal.
Barriga and the Bolivian Ministry of Hydro- carbons had indicated earlier in the year that failure to strike a new agreement by the dead- line would not a ect deliveries. ey explained that Bolivia was prepared to continue supply- ing Petrobras with up to 30.5mn cubic metres (mcm) per day of gas, the maximum level spec- i ed in the former contract, while negotiations were underway.
is pledge met with a chilly reception in Brazil, not least because YPFB did not appear to be capable of guaranteeing the delivery of even the minimum volumes stipulated in the old deal – 24 mcm per day. Indeed, the Bolivian NOC incurred contractual penalties in nine out of 12 months in 2018 because of its failure to provide at least that much gas.
For its part, YPFB has also complained that Alchetron Petrobras has not upheld its end of the deal. e
former contract includes “take or pay” clauses
that obligate the latter company to take delivery
of at least 24 mcm per day of Bolivian gas. But since March of this year, Brazil has only been importing 12 mcm per day. According to Bar- riga, this gap means that the Brazilian NOC should also incur penalties.
e YPFB president has also accused Petro- bras of taking an ideologically motivated posi- tion based on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s distaste for the Bolvarian socialism favoured by Evo Morales, his Bolivian counterpart.
Barriga has justfied his position by high- lighting the fact that Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) began recommending a reduction in Bolivian gas imports after Bolsonaro’s inauguration, noting that the agency is headed by a political appointee. ™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 29 24•July•2019