Page 8 - LatAmOil Week 02 2023

LatAmOil VENEZUELA LatAmOil

Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami (C, unmasked), shown standing in front of El Palito refinery
in June 2022. The plant resumed operations last year with assistance from Iranian specialists. (Photo: PdVSA)

The materials viewed by Reuters puts the volume efforts have had limited impact because of the
of crude oil and petroleum products exported country’s decaying infrastructure – including
by Venezuela’s national oil company (NOC) oilfields, refineries and ports, many of which
PdVSA and its joint ventures at 616,540 barrels have not been able to carry out regular repair or
per day (bpd) in 2022. This is a 2.5% decline on maintenance programmes during the last few
the 2021 figure and is also marginally lower than years.
the 2020 figure. Meanwhile, it continued, Venezuela is also
Reuters also reported, citing independent facing stiff competition for market share from
data sources, that Venezuela had earned $6-7bn Russia. That country has ramped up its crude
in cash from sales of crude oil and petroleum exports to China over the last year due to the
products in 2022, after debt repayment, fees, introduction of Western sanctions following the
price discounts, shipping costs and swaps. It did invasion of Ukraine, it stated.
not provide a comparative figure for 2021 but Francisco Monaldi, a Latin American energy
indicated that the South American country had expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute, told
lost revenue last year. Reuters that Venezuela’s insufficient infrastruc-
The country was able to recover some of this ture and rising competition were both con-
lost revenue by boosting exports of petroleum tributing to problems with exports. “Despite
coke, methanol and other petroleum products the increased Iranian help, the decline in net
more than 200% over the course of 2022, the exports results from a combination of produc-
news agency said. tion stagnation and the increasing competition
These gains were effectively erased by plant of Russian exports in the Chinese black market,”
outages and delayed maintenance at year-end, he explained.
which led to more delays in production and Venezuelan oil exports from the South
deliveries, it added. American nation are anticipated to grow in
It went on to say that Iran, which is also fac- 2023, following the easing of US sanctions.
ing US sanctions, had tried to assist its South Washington has authorised some of PdVSA’s
American partner in 2022 by sending supplies partners to resume exports of Venezuelan crude
of refined petroleum products and diluents in a and has also granted the US major Chevron per-
bid to boost crude exports, as well as technicians mission to resume some of its operations in the
to repair a refinery. However, it noted, Tehran’s country. ™

GUYANA
Guyana’s EPA says no environmental study

necessary for GTE project’s power station

GUYANA’S Environmental Protection Agency (GTE) project.
(EPA) said last week that it will not require the According to the EPA, no such study is
government to carry out an environmental needed because it has been already determined
impact assessment (EIA) ahead of the construc- to the government’s satisfaction that the natural
tion of a 300-MW thermal power plant (TPP) gas-fired power station will not have a harmful
within the framework of its gas-to-energy impact on the environment.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 02 11•January•2023