Page 14 - LatAmOil Week 24

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ExxonMobil and its partners are using the Liza Destiny FPSO to develop Liza (Photo: ShipSpotting,com)

The US super-major and its partners, China be delayed, though, owing to recent production
National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and the problems at the Liza field. ExxonMobil and its
US independent Hess, have made more than a partners have had to bring output down from
dozen discoveries at the offshore licence area 80,000 bpd to 30,000 bpd because of technical
to date. They have found more than 8bn barrels difficulties with compressor equipment at the
of oil in recoverable reserves and hope to bring Liza-1 well. Without the production cuts, the
production levels up to around 750,000 barrels consortium would have no choice but to violate
per day (bpd) by 2025. its commitment not to flare more than 15mn
Guyana was expected to load its third 1mn cubic feet (424,800 cubic metres) per day of
barrel cargo next month. The loading is likely to associated gas. ™

VENEZUEL A
Iran set to continue gasoline shipments

to Venezuela despite US sanctions

IRAN is reportedly seeking to make its sup- companies and insurers against facilitating Ven-
plying of gasoline-starved Venezuela with fuel ezuela-bound Iranian tankers.
a permanent arrangement—partly so that the But Tehran plans to keep up the shipments,
two nations can together defy US sanctions and according to five trading and industry sources
partly so that the Iranians can offload a domestic close to the Iranian oil ministry cited by the
oversupply of fuel. news agency. Two of the sources said Iran’s
Since April, Iran has sent five tankers ship- powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
ping around 1.5mn barrels of gasoline to Ven- (IRGC), which answers to Supreme Leader Aya-
ezuela, which is suffering hours-long queues tollah Ali Khamenei, was determining policy on
at fuel stations. From this point on, it is keen Venezuela.
to send two to three cargoes a month in regu-
lar gasoline sales to its ally, sources have briefed “Long-term, strategic”
Reuters. “This is a long-term strategic decision made by
The Trump administration, looking to the state to expand influence,” said one Iranian
cripple Iran’s energy export trade as part of its trader familiar with the policy, likening it to
“maximum pressure” sanctions bid to secure Iran’s cargoes for Syria.
a diminishing of the Islamic Republic’s role in A State Department spokesman said “the
Middle East affairs and is also intent on bring- international business community should
ing down Nicolas Maduro, the country’s “klep- already be aware of the legal risk of any transac-
tocratic” president. tions with the illegitimate and tyrannical regime
Washington claims Maduro has no demo- of Nicolas Maduro”.
cratic legitimacy and has warned ports, shipping Iran was a net gasoline importer for decades.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 18•June•2020