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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 9th 2025 - 06:32 UTC

Energy & Oil

  • Thursday, April 20th 2017 - 23:21 UTC

    Russian shipping conglomerate suing Venezuela's oil giant PDVSA for unpaid fees

    Despite a longstanding alliance between Venezuela and Russia, Sovcomflot sued PDVSA in St. Maarten, a Dutch island on the northeast end of the Caribbean.

    Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, sent a tanker in October to the Caribbean with the expectation that its cargo of crude would fetch about US$20 million - money the crisis-stricken nation desperately needs. Instead, the owner of the tanker, the Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, held the oil in hopes of collecting partial payment on US$30 million that it says PDVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees.

  • Saturday, April 15th 2017 - 09:47 UTC

    Falklands review tourist season and discuss shortcomings and improvements

    Mrs. Middleton opened the session by giving updates on a few issues that had come up in the last year

    Falkland Islands Tourist Board chairman Mike Rendell and Interim CEO Steph Middleton welcomed a large group of interested parties to the Chamber of Commerce last week for an informal end of tourist season ‘washup.’ Topics raised ranged from perennial issues such as easy access to the Totem Pole for tourists, to newer developments such as what to do with the new jetty.

  • Wednesday, April 12th 2017 - 10:18 UTC

    YPF interested in Shell's refinery and network of gasoline stations

    The assets, including a 113,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Buenos Aires, were put on the block as part of Shell's program of asset sales

    Argentina's state-run oil company YPF is among the bidders for Royal Dutch Shell Plc's refinery and network of gasoline stations in Argentina. Other nationally owned oil companies are interested in the assets but YPF is seen as having an edge because of its strong position in Argentina, the reliable industry sources said.

  • Thursday, April 6th 2017 - 12:35 UTC

    ExxonMobil strikes oil again offshore Guyana, the second this year

    Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. commenced drilling the Snoek well on Feb 22, and was safely drilled to 5,175 meters in 1,563 meters of water 18 March

    ExxonMobil’s oil finding streaking offshore Guyana is continuing, with the company reporting yesterday that it has struck oil again. It is Exxon’s third such find in the Stabroek Block and the second this year, coming on the heels of oil discoveries in Liza in 2015 and Payara in January.

  • Tuesday, April 4th 2017 - 09:55 UTC

    Maduro gained his true objective: sweeping authority to cut oil deals on behalf of PDVSA

    Rosneft, a major PDVSA partner at a time when relations between Caracas and Moscow have grown increasingly cozy, said the deal was legal.

    Venezuelan Supreme Court reversal decision to take over the opposition-led congress seems to have yielded to domestic and international pressure, but it still gives embattled populist President Nicolas Maduro broad new powers over the country´s vast oil wealth, which now appears to have been his true target.

  • Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 13:52 UTC

    Brazil rapidly becoming global supplier of light crudes

    Petrobras Guilherme said company's production ”consists of much lighter oil than we used to produce in the past; we have demand for more than we can deliver.”

    Brazil is poised to sharply increase oil exports this year as heavy investments spur new output and demand for its lighter crudes win more buyers, especially in China and India. Production is projected to rise 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2017, second only in the size of additional supply to the United States among non-OPEC producers.

  • Monday, March 27th 2017 - 11:07 UTC

    Petrobras posted losses of US$ 4.8 billion during 2016

    Petrobras has been at the center of a corruption scandal that has ensnared powerful lawmakers and business executives.

    Brazil's state-run oil company says it posted a US$4.8 billion loss in 2016 mainly because of a reduction in the value of assets it needs to sell to lower a debt estimated at more than US$100 billion.

  • Saturday, March 25th 2017 - 09:29 UTC

    Argentina closer to energy self sufficiency: US$ 2.3bn investment in Vaca Muerta shale fields

    Tecpetrol will aim to produce an average 14 million cubic meters of shale gas per day by 2019, which is half the volume of gas Argentina currently imports

    Argentina's Tecpetrol, part of the Techint Group, said on Thursday it would invest US$2.3 billion in the Vaca Muerta shale fields through 2019, the largest announcement in the formation in years. Tecpetrol said in a statement the investment was made possibly due to measures from President Mauricio Macri's government, including a deal with labor unions earlier this year and a definition of price supports this month.

  • Friday, March 24th 2017 - 11:02 UTC

    Maduro desperately selling assets to pay US$ 3.7bn in debts

    The Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is reportedly so desperate to pay the US$ 3.7 billion in debts that he is selling off the assets to Russia.

    In an effort to handle its overdue debts, Venezuela is all but giving away oil assets. President Nicolás Maduro is reportedly so desperate to pay the US$ 3.7 billion in debts that he is selling off the assets to Russia.

  • Friday, March 24th 2017 - 10:54 UTC

    Venezuela paralyzed because of gasoline shortage: supplies rushed in from Houston

    Venezuelans have spent hours in lines, as they await a product that has been in short supply for several days in different cities across the country

    Although Venezuela has 18 refineries throughout the world and six on its own soil, on Thursday most states face a shortage of gasoline that has led to long lines at gas stations around the country. Venezuelans have spent hours in such lines, as they await a product that has been in short supply for several days in different cities across the country.