Venezuela looks to replace Exxon Mobil as partner in U.S. refinery

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Venezuela looks to replace Exxon Mobil as partner in U.S. refinery



April 9, 2008 12:14 PM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela wants to replace Exxon Mobil Corp. as its partner in a U.S. oil refinery partly controlled by its state-run oil company, the oil minister said Wednesday.

Rafael Ramirez said Venezuela is ''planning to have another operator'' for a refinery located in the New Orleans suburb of Chalmette that is jointly owned by Exxon and Venezuela's state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA.

''It cannot be Exxon Mobil,'' Ramirez said.

The refinery in Chalmette processes about 190,000 barrels of heavy crude a day.



Read more: http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=BUSINESS&ID=565277400762811935

[Judi Lynn]

1. India and Venezuela sign oil deal

Page last updated at 10:50 GMT, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 11:50 UK
India and Venezuela sign oil deal

India has signed a five-year, $400m joint venture with Venezuela to drill for oil and gas in Venezuela's south-eastern Orinoco region, officials say.

The state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will hold a 60% stake, and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will control the remaining 40%.

The ONGC will invest $450m in the project.

Venezuela is Latin America's leading oil producer, with an estimated 100 billion barrels of crude oil reserves.

The venture is likely to double Orinoco's oil production to 60,000 barrels a day.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7338383.stm

[samsingh]

9. wow

[northzax]

13. there's something odd about that article

PDVSA claimed to already produce 600,000 bbls a day from the Orinoco Belt last year. The Cerro Negro project confiscated from Exxon and Chevron is capable of producing 120,000 bbls a day alone. at least it was last May.

[Joanne98]

2. YAY!

[samsingh]

10. yes

[Rage for Order]

3. I think the US should nationalize Venezuela's stake in the refinery

Apparently it's all the rage these days, and it's the right thing to do. Nationalization, that is.

[JohnnyCougar]

4. If only our oil companies' profits went back to our people...

[Doctor Cynic]

8. As if the US Govt can decide what happens to a Venezuelan refinery.

Chimp is the Decider in one country. He isn't the Decider in the other 197 countries.

[northzax]

11. um, it's in the US

if Venezuela can force Exxon to take pennies on the dollar for their stake in the Cerro Negro project, why can't Uncle Sam force PDVSA to take pennies on the dollar for this facility?

[maddezmom]

5. If it's a 50/50 doesn't Exxon have to agree to sell?

[northzax]

12. not in Venezuela

this is what the whole asset-seizure thing a month or so back was about. Google "Cerro Negro Exxon" PDVSA has gotten used to abrogating contracts they don't like anymore and seizing assets, I think they'll find it a bit harder to pull off in the US than in the Orinoco Belt.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Venezuela seeks new operator for Chalmette refinery

UPDATE 1-Venezuela seeks new operator for Chalmette refinery
Wed Apr 9, 2008 7:04pm BST


CARACAS, April 9 (Reuters) - Venezuela is seeking to remove Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) as the operator of its joint-venture refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday .

The move escalates the OPEC nation's battle with the biggest publicly traded oil company sparked by Venezuela's takeover of a multibillion-dollar oil project last year.

Venezuela already has stopped selling crude oil to Exxon after the company attempted to freeze $12 billion of foreign assets owned by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA to secure compensation for the nationalized oil project.
(snip)

Exxon Mobil is the operator of the Chalmette refinery and shares ownership of the plant equally with PDVSA.

http://uk.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=UKN0922274420080409

[Judi Lynn]

7. Venezuela Seeks New Chalmette Refinery Operator

Venezuela Seeks New Chalmette Refinery Operator

April 09, 2008: 02:25 PM EST

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, will seek a new operator to replace ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) in their Chalmette oil refinery partnership, Venezuela's oil minister said Wednesday.

"We're seeking a new operator for the Chalmette, La., refinery, another operator other than Exxon," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters in congress after meeting with lawmakers to discuss a new levy on oil companies.

PdVSA and Exxon each own half of the Chalmette plant, an asset that is now part of compensation talks between the partners stemming from President Hugo Chavez's decision last year to nationalize a series of oil projects, including one controlled by Exxon.

Ramirez also confirmed the government will create a new oil tax to obtain a portion of the gains oil companies derive from sudden increases in oil prices.

As planned, a 50% tax rate would kick in after Brent crude hits an average of $70 a barrel in a particular month. The taxable portion of a company's revenues would be the money obtained from oil sold at prices exceeding that $70 threshold. When oil prices exceed $100 a barrel, the tax rate would go to 60%. " We believe the $70 Brent threshold is fair," Ramirez said.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200804091425DOWJONESDJONLINE000948_FORTUNE5.htm

[northzax]

14. well that tax will certianly encourage production

I wonder if ONGC knew it would be paying 60% tax when it signed the deal with PDVSA?