PDVSA turns to traders to sustain Ecuador oil deal

Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA has had to buy dozens of extra fuel cargoes from countries as far away as Estonia and Saudi Arabia to keep up its side of a 2008 oil supply deal with leftist ally Ecuador, ...

CARACAS — Nicolas Maduro’s win in Venezuela’s presidential election means state oil company PDVSA will continue funding the government’s socialist policies while increasingly relying on deals with China and Russia. The late Hugo Chavez picked Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver, to continue his self-declared revolution in the OPEC country where he nationalized most of the oil industry during his polarizing 14-year rule.

While everyone knows about the epic oversupply of dry bulk containerships as a result of the pre-bubble surge in charter rates (and subsequent collapse), which sent many shipping companies to an early bankruptcy or outright liquidation and also resulted in very depressed shipping rates for the last several years as the supply overhang continues to be cleared out of the system (coupled with still depressed end-demand for "dry" commodities) , few may be aware that in the past several months the same fate has befallen the oil-tanker industry.

By Charles Margolis:The Executive Vice President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced Hugo Chávez died after a battle with cancer yesterday. Chávez reigned over the South American nation with an iron fist since 1999. This article will delve into the current state of American oil company interactions with Venezuela, Petróleos de Venezuela's (PDVSA) booming oil industry, and a fund to consider with exposure to Venezuelan oil income.

Brent crude prices didn’t move much as traders absorbed the death of Hugo Chavez who ruled the world’s sixth largest OPEC producer. Venezuela is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves of around 296.5 billion barrels, but its production has steadily fallen under Mr. Chavez who diverted Venezuela’s oil revenues to his pet projects and weakened the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, which is responsible for developing the country’s enormous riches.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA will allow joint ventures with China National Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Corp. to manage US$6-billion in loans designed to revert oil output declines, said a PDVSA official.

If an embargo is successful in preventing Iran from selling a significant amount of oil on the world market, what would replace it? On Friday the White House released the following statement: