Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 36 2019

LatAmOil VENEZUELA LatAmOil
 e Chinese company originally owned a 37.5% stake in the project, but its equity holdings have increased over the years.
Last September, PdVSA agreed to transfer another 9.9% to CNPC, thereby reducing its own stake to 50.1% and bringing the latter’s participation up to 49.9%.
Sinovensa extracts extra-heavy Orinoco
crude and then blends it with lighter feedstock to produce a blended medium-weight grade known as Merey. Venezuelan blends are pop- ular in China and other Asian countries, and Maduro’s administration has been trying to increase sales to Asian customers since the US government’s imposition of stricter sanctions earlier this year..™
Senior diplomat: US government won’t rule out sanctions on Rosneft over Venezuela
e US government may take action against Rosne , Russia’s largest oil operator, for expand- ing its trade in Venezuelan crude oil.
Elliot Abrams, the US special representative for Venezuela, told reporters during a phone briefing on September 10 that Washington would not rule out sanctions on Rosne , which is majority-owned by the Russian government. When asked whether Rosne might be penal- ised in this fashion, he replied: “Yes, it can be. We have not gotten to that point yet.”
US authorities see sanctions as an option in light of reports showing that PdVSA, Venezue- la’s national oil company (NOC), and other state agencies have become increasingly dependent on Rosne , he said. “At some point, we will have to consider the question of Rosne ’s conduct and what kind of reaction we want to have to it,” he commented.
Abrams cited evidence indicating that the Russian company had come to serve as one of PdVSA’s main conduits to the world oil market. Rosne has been taking delivery of increasing volumes of Venezuelan crude with the aim of re-selling it and pocketing the pro t, he said.
His remarks drew an angry response from
Rosne , which issued a statement saying that all of the contracts governing the oil shipments that had drawn Washington’s attention pre-dated the imposition of tougher sanctions on Caracas in January 2019. e company warned Washing- ton against trying to limit its activities in Vene- zuela, saying that such actions would amount to illegal expropriation.
“In this context, [Rosne ] reserves the right to protect its investments in corresponding national and international legislations,” it said in the statement.
It also described Abrams’ remarks as an attempt to generate “additional agitation on the global market, which affects the invest- ment price of the company.” Nevertheless, the statement added, “Rosne is ready for an open dialogue with the US authorities to clarify its position.”
e US government tightened restrictions on trade with Venezuela earlier this year, in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido’s claim that President Nicolas Maduro’s had used fraudulent means to secure re-election in 2018. e revisions in the sanctions regime penalise entities doing business with PdVSA. ™
US special representative for Venezuela Elliot Abrams. Photo: US Mission to the OAS
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 11•September•2019