• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 5 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 7 days If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 1 day How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 11 days Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
EU and Turkmenistan Eye New Energy Partnerships

EU and Turkmenistan Eye New Energy Partnerships

Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister announces an…

AI Surge Has Big Tech Scrambling for Power Supply

AI Surge Has Big Tech Scrambling for Power Supply

U.S. utilities are struggling to…

Zainab Calcuttawala

Zainab Calcuttawala

Zainab Calcuttawala is an American journalist based in Morocco. She completed her undergraduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook’em) and reports on…

More Info

Venezuela Calls For Renegotiation Of OPEC Deal

High global oil inventories necessitate a renegotiation of the OPEC production cut deal from last November, according to Venezuelan oil minister Eulogio Del Pino.

Del Pino told reporters at an energy conference in Kazakhstan that inventories remained roughly 300 million barrels higher than normal levels.

“Those 300 million barrels are going to impact speculation in the market,” he said. “It (the level of inventories) is still very high.”

Libya and Nigeria, two African countries that received exemptions from the OPEC agreement due to long periods of civil strife, should be put under quotas as well, the minister said. Meetings with ministers from the Middle East and Russia are planned for the near future, he added. Moscow and Riyadh agree that the cuts should continue till June 2018, but the current measures only extend until March.

Low oil revenues from three years of depressed oil markets have made it difficult for Caracas to import goods for its citizens, who are facing mass shortages in food and medical supplies. In the meantime, the United States is toughening its stance against President Nicolas Maduro’s regime.

The White House approved new sanctions against Caracas last week, making it harder for Venezuela’s embattled government to secure funds as Venezuela spirals towards a default. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the executive order, which prevents American financial institutions from offering new funds to Venezuela or to its state oil company, PDVSA. Citgo will also be barred from repatriating profits – further isolating Caracas from international financial markets.

Trump’s White House will block attempts by the Kremlin to acquire large portions of Venezuela’s Citgo. Prior to this announcement, Rosneft had agreed to acquire half of Citgo’s shares in exchange for a $1.5 billion loan in 2016. Cash-hungry PDVSA approved the deal, leaving American lawmakers concerned that a Russian firm would control roughly five percent of U.S. refining capacity via the buyouts.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News