Page 8 - LatAmOil Week 40 2021

LatAmOil TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO LatAmOil

The third round will include more than half of
the country’s 25 shallow-water licence areas, he
added.
Imbert said Port of Spain was hopeful that
the licensing round would draw attention from
major investors, including the subsidiary of BP
(UK) that is active in Trinidad and Tobago. “In
September 2021, bpTT underlined its continu-
ing interest” in the country, he stated.
The finance minister did not say exactly
which blocks would be included in the licens-
ing rounds. He stated, though, that his minis-
try would work with the Ministry of Energy
to review the national taxation regime for the
oil and gas sector. Trinidad and Tobago is tak-
ing this step to ensure that the country has a
better chance of competing for investment, he
declared.
“We intend to review the appropriateness in
today’s environment of our three main petro- Trinidad and Tobago is currently accepting nominations for onshore blocks
leum taxes – namely, Petroleum Profits Tax ahead of a licensing round (Image: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries)
(also known as Corporation Tax in this Sector),
Supplemental Petroleum Tax and Royalty, both The government’s budget bill calls for spend-
onshore and offshore, in the deep water and ing some TTD52.4bn ($7.72bn) in 2022. Imbert
shallow water, and for large and small produc- presented the draft legislation to the members of
ers,” he said. parliament on October 4. ™

VENEZUEL A
PdVSA closes oil-for-condensate

swap agreement with Tehran

VENEZUELA’S national oil company (NOC)
PdVSA has struck a deal with its Iranian coun-
terpart on a contract that will enable it to acquire
supplies of gas condensate.
This arrangement will allow PdVSA to swap
its own extra-heavy crude oil with National Ira-
nian Oil Co. (NIOC) in exchange for conden-
sate, according to a Reuters report that cited
five people close to the matter. The swap agree-
ment is expected to last for six months initially
but may be extended, the sources told the news
agency.
According to some of the sources, shipments
of the Iranian condensate have already begun.
They noted that the first cargo, consisting of
1.9mn barrels of Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude,
had departed from PdVSA’s port facilities in Jose PdVSA mixes its heavy crude oil with gas condensate (Image: Schlumberger)
on a very large crude carrier (VLCC) known
as Felicity, which is owned and operated by extra-heavy crude, which is often diluted with
National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC). lighter production streams (or combined with
The US Treasury Department said in an water to form synthetic fuels) to make it easier
email to Reuters last week that the deal could be to use.
in breach of US sanctions on both nations. PdVSA views condensate as suitable for this
The deal will allow PdVSA to access con- purpose, and it is keen to find new supplies so
densate, which it can use to increase crude oil that it can support ongoing efforts to bring pro-
output. Most of Venezuela’s oilfields contain duction up to 1.5mn barrels per day (bpd).

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 08•October•2021