Page 13 - LatAmOil Week 41

LatAmOil GUYANA LatAmOil

“We are extremely pleased to further our rela- The group started production at the Liza-1 sec-
tionship with ExxonMobil and their partners tion of the block, which is located approximately
offshore Guyana,” said Robert W. Eifler, presi- 193 km offshore, last December.
dent and CEO of Noble. “This award demon- Liza-1 will eventually yield around 120,000
strates the capability of the CEA to align the barrels per day (bpd) of oil, and ExxonMobil
interests of Noble and ExxonMobil while con- says it hopes to launch Liza-2, the block’s sec-
tinuing our participation in one of the world’s ond section, in 2022. It has also recently made a
premier offshore exploration and development final investment decision (FID) on Payara, the
opportunities.” third section.
Exxon has discovered more than 8bn barrels Guyana is one of Latin America’s poorest
of oil in recoverable resources off Guyana’s coast, countries and had no experience of oil produc-
where it is operating the Stabroek block as part tion until late last year. It has seen its fortunes
of a consortium formed with Hess (US) and turn around since 1999, when it began working
China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC). with ExxonMobil and other foreign majors. ™

VENEZUEL A
Trump administration scrutinising Tipco’s

payment arrangements with PdVSA

THAILAND’S Tipco Asphalt has reportedly
drawn some unwelcome attention from US fed-
eral authorities in light of reports on its financial
arrangements with Venezuela’s national oil com-
pany (NOC) PdVSA.
According to the Associated Press, which
has been investigating evidence of the payments
provided by a former PdVSA consultant, US
authorities are looking into reports that Tipco
made payments on behalf of the Venezuelan
NOC in exchange for discounts on crude oil
supplies. The news agency said last week that
US President Donald Trump’s administration
was scrutinising the transactions, apparently
with the aim of determining whether they make Tipco’s plant in Malaysia depends on Venezuelan crude (Photo: Tipco)
the Thai company liable to penalties under the
current sanctions regime, which aims to restrict financial institutions or entities, the Thai firm
investment in Venezuela’s oil sector. may become the target of a money-laundering
After information on the payments began or criminal fraud investigation, said Weber, now
coming to light, Tipco pointed out that its pay- a professor of forensic accounting at Maryland’s
ments to third parties on PdVSA’s behalf were Salisbury University.
a standard feature of its contracts for Venezue- According to the news agency, Trump
lan oil. It also asserted in a Thai stock exchange administration officials began urging Tipco to
filing dated September 11 that the transactions cut ties with PdVSA last December and renewed
were fully legal, since they did not fall under the the pressure in August. The company does not
umbrella of sanctions applying to US companies. appear to have informed its shareholders of
In the same filing, Tipco also announced these contacts prior to September 11, despite
plans to wind down its purchases of Venezue- stock exchange rules that require it to disclose
lan crude. Nevertheless, US officials are report- information that might affect its investment
edly looking into the possibility that Tipco’s ties decisions or have a significant effect on stock
with PdVSA have benefited the government of prices.
Nicolas Maduro, which Washington views as It is not clear whether Tipco fully abided
illegitimate. by those rules. After the September 11 filing,
According to David Weber, a former inves- its shares dropped by 40% and its managers
tigator at the US Treasury Department’s Secu- revealed that they were suspending operations
rities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tipco at the company’s asphalt plant in Malaysia.
may not survive this scrutiny unscathed. PdVSA supplies much of the feedstock used at
Since a number of the transactions revealed that plant, which accounts for around half of the
by AP’s source appear to have involved US company’s production. ™

Week 41 15•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13