Jens Erik Gould Blog

Caracas (Platts) 10 October 2006 Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and Bolivian state oil company YPFB will operate four oil fields in Bolivia under a joint venture agreement, Venezuelan daily El Nacional said in a report Tuesday. The two companies signed a letter of intention to operate the Aguarague, Iniguazu, Inau and Tiacia fields, which cover a total of 369,975 hectares, the report said. Both countries signed an MoU to create a joint venture in which YPFB will have 51% and PDVSA will have 49% participation, the report said. The companies will begin operating the fields after their reserves are quantified, the report said. The two companies will also build a $70 million natural gas plant in Rio Grande that will process 200 million ft3/day of gas, the report said. The Bolivian presidential office website said last week that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales will inaugurate the construction of a natural gas separation plant on Oc...

Caracas (Platts) 11 October 2006 Citgo, the US-based affiliate of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, will provide discounted heating oil to some 46,000 rural Alaskans between November 2006 and March 2007, PDVSA said in a statement late Tuesday. 147 of 151 Alaskan indigenous tribes have said they want to participate in the program, while the other four chose not to participate. Recent media reports have indicated that several villages rejected the offer in protest of comments made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the United Nations in September, including a remark in which he called President Bush “the devil.” PDVSA says it is “respecting the positions of leaders to not participate in the project. ” This winter, Citgo expects to supply 100 million gallons of heating oil to benefit 1.2 million Americans, the statement said. The heating oil is sold at a 40% discount. Last winter, Citgo distributed 14 million gallons of heating oil to 181,204 households in...

Caracas (Platts) 26 October 2006 Citgo, the US-based affiliate of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, will more than double the amount of discounted heating oil it provides to Americans this winter and the number of states that will benefit from the program, company CEO Felix Rodriguez said at a PDVSA refining event in Caracas on Thursday. Citgo will distribute 100 million gallons compared to last year’s 40 million gallons, and will distribute the heating oil to 19 states this winter, compared to only 8 states last winter, Rodriguez said. He said the heating oil program will cost over $50 million this year. Heating oil is distributed at a 40% discount, he said. Last winter, Citgo distributed 14 million gallons of heating oil to 181,204 households in Massachussets, New York, Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Delaware and Connecticut. more than double as last year 100 million gallons of heating oil,last year it was 40 million gallon 8 states to 19 Al...