
Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA has limited the damage from an unprecedented slump in crude exports by transferring oil between tankers at sea and loading vessels in neighboring Cuba to avoid asset seizures. But Venezuela is still fulfilling less than 60% of its obligations under supply deals with customers.

Brazil’s Petrobras benefited from the rising oil prices and booked a thirty-fold yearly jump in its second-quarter net income, which also beat analyst expectations.

The state of Zulia, the historic heart of Venezuela’s energy industry that was for decades known for opulent oil wealth, has been plunged into darkness for several hours a day since March, sometimes leaving its 3.7 million residents with no electricity for up to 24 hours.

Brazil’s three largest fuel distribution companies are under investigation for fixing prices at the pump, police said on Tuesday, reigniting debate over potential collusion among gas station owners in Latin America’s largest oil producer.

Discovered resources globally of conventional oil and natural gas surpassed 4.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the first half of 2018, making for an exciting recovery with Guyana leading the way, according to analysis by Rystad Energy. Average monthly discovered volumes are 826 million barrels of oil equivalent. This is a 30% increase from 2017.

Argentina's hydrocarbons company YPF is facing a fresh lawsuit in the United States, this time for US$14bn, which is twice the market value of the state oil firm, over alleged corporate restructuring that the company was said to have carried out several years ago.

Venezuela is taking steps to direct dwindling motor fuel to politically loyal vehicle owners. President Nicolas Maduro ordered a national census on 3-5 August to determine how many vehicle owners possess a homeland identity card, a document created in first quarter 2017 to strengthen the government's social and political surveillance capabilities.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com - The strength of the U.S. dollar poses an obstacle to further gains in oil prices. President Trump's trade war with China, which is still in its early stages, has already battered the Yuan.

As Mercopress have reported over recent months, Premier Oil continue to progress their Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) process for the Sea Lion oil discovery. As a next step in this process, earlier this week Premier Oil plc provided details of their intended approach to both procurement and infrastructure to support the discovery to the north of the Falkland Islands.

The U.S. Energy Department on Wednesday cleared the way for faster approval of small scale exports of natural gas including liquefied natural gas to Latin American countries by issuing a rule that does away with a public interest review of the shipments.