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April 11, 2008 |
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PETROLEOS DE VENEZUELA: Seeks New Partner for Chalmette Plant Petroleos de Venezuela SA will seek to replace Exxon Mobil Corp. as operator of its plant Chalmette Refining LLC in Louisiana, USA, Bloomberg News reports. The Venezuelan government wants a new operator for the Chalmette oil refinery which Petroleos de Venezuela partly owns, the Associated Press relates, citing Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez. The AP relates that Minister Ramirez said in March that Petroleos de Venezuela started rerouting oil to China that had previously been sent to the Chalmette plant because Exxon Mobil had stopped buying crude for the refinery amid the two firms' legal dispute. Petroleos de Venezuela board member Eulogio del Pino told Bloomberg that the firm can demand "a turn as operator of the refinery in which it owns a 50% stake." Mr. del Pino commented to Bloomberg, "We have the right to alternate the operator. Under the bylaws of Chalmette, the partners have the option to alternate operation. And we're going to use it." Mr. del Pino further added that he didn't think Exxon Mobil would agree with the planned change. Exxon Mobil spokesperson Margaret Ross commented to Bloomberg, "ExxonMobil Oil Corp. is the contractual operator of Chalmette Refining LLC, and we continue to operate the refinery in a safe and environmentally sound manner. It is our policy not to comment on the specifics of our contracts. We remain open to meaningful discussion with PDVSA [Petroleos de Venezuela." Petroleos de Venezuela SA -- http://www.pdv.com/ -- is Venezuela's state oil company in charge of the development of the petroleum, petrochemical and coal industry, as well as planning, coordinating, supervising and controlling the operational activities of its divisions, both in Venezuela and abroad. The company has a commercial office in China. PDVSA is one of the top exporters of oil to the US with proven reserves of 77.2 billion barrels of oil -- the most outside the Middle East -- and about 150 trillion cu. ft. of natural gas. PDVSA's exploration and production take place in Venezuela, but the company also has refining and marketing operations in the Caribbean, Europe, and the US. * * * As of Feb. 14, 2008, Fitch Ratings held Petroleos de Venezuela SA's long-term issuer default rating and local currency long term issuer default rating at BB-. Fitch said the ratings outlook is negative. |
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