Page 11 - NorthAmOil Week 31

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US court upholds legitimacy of Citgo’s ad hoc board
US-VENEZUELA
A US court weighed in on the political situa- tion in Venezuela last week, issuing a ruling that upheld Interim President Juan Guaido’s right to appoint an ad hoc board of directors at Citgo, a Houston-based downstream sub- sidiary of the national oil company (NOC) PdVSA.
The court returned its verdict on August 2 in response to a suit led by the administra- tion of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which has been trying to establish itself as the only party eligible to appoint board members at Citgo. Guaido, who alleged that Maduro used illegitimate means to ensure his re-election last year, has asserted that he has the right to do so as the country’s interim president.
Kathaleen McCormick, the vice-chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court, ruled in favour of Guaido a er hearing arguments from both sides. She declared that the opposition leader’s appointments to Citgo’s board were valid, in light of the fact that US President Donald Trump has recognised him as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
e court “accepts as binding the US pres- ident’s recognition of the Guaido govern- ment and assumes the validity of the Guaido
government’s appointments to the PdVSA board,” she declared.
Citgo, which has sought to distance itself from its parent company PdVSA, reacted pos- itively to the court’s ruling. “We are grateful that the court has rejected the Maduro regime’s e orts to use the US judiciary to advance their anti-democratic objectives,” the company said in a statement on August 2.
McCormick did leave room for Maduro to challenge the verdict. In the ruling, she wrote that the court would hold o on issuing a for- mal order con rming the legitimacy of Citgo’s ad hoc board until August 16. She stated that the Venezuelan president and his supporters would have 10 business days to make a case that the ad hoc board members had not been appointed properly.
As of press time, the Venezuelan presidential administration has not said whether it intends to take advantage of this opportunity to challenge Guaido’s ad hoc board appointments. McCor- mick noted in her verdict that the lawyers repre- senting Maduro’s chosen board members “[did] not appear to contest the authority” of the indi- viduals who green-lighted the interim president’s decisions on the matter.™
UPSTREAM
Northern Oil and Gas
announces second-quarter
2019 results
Northern Oil and Gas today announced the company’s second quarter results and provided updated 2019 guidance.
Second quarter 2019 production totalled 3.2 million boe and averaged 34,965 boe per day, a 66% increase from the prior year. Oil and gas sales in the second quarter increased 37% from the prior year to $149.8 million. Net income in the second quarter was $44.4mn or $0.12 per diluted share. Adjusted Net Income in the second quarter was $45.5mn or $0.12 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $110.8 million in the second quarter, a 57%
NEWS IN BRIEF
increase from the prior year or 6% increase sequentially.
“We continue to execute on our 2019 capital allocation plan, focusing on the highest returns available to us including
our organic well opportunities and ground game acquisitions. is approach allowed us to remain within our production guidance despite approximately 2,500 boe per day of curtailments due to continued basin-level infrastructure constraints,” commented Brandon Elliott, chief executive o cer. “Strong well performance, the closing of
our VEN Bakken acquisition and continued success in our ground game are expected to expand our free cash ow pro le to support additional debt reduction along with a stable and consistent return of capital to shareholders.”
NORTHERN OIL AND GAS, August 01, 2019
MIDSTREAM
Pin Oak secures
interconnection to EPIC and
Red Oak pipelines
Pin Oak Corpus Christi announced material updates to its growing terminals business
in the Corpus Christi market, including
new interconnection agreements with
EPIC Pipeline and Red Oak Pipeline and commencement of construction on its
new crude oil trading hub at Ta . e Ta Terminal will complement Pin Oak’s Corpus Christi terminal, an approximately 4 million barrel storage facility with export-capable Suezmax and MR docks set to commence operations in Q4 2019.
PIN OAK CORPUS CHRISTI, August 01, 2019
Week 31 08•August•2019
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