Venezuela 2023 oil output to remain flat: Tellechea

Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
24/07/23

Venezuelan oil production will likely remain near the current 830,000 b/d level for the rest of 2023 and not reach the previously touted 1mn b/d mark, energy minister and state-owned PdV president Pedro Tellechea said last week.

In a recording of a presentation given to the Federation of Venezuelan Industrialists guild on Friday, Tellechea said oil production is averaging 831,000 b/d this year and is expected to reach 860,000 b/d in July, an admission an earlier 1mn b/d goal cannot be reached.

"Surely we are behind, but I don't have a magic wand, by year end we will achieve one million oil barrels per day," he said. Production "has to be sustainable. You can't reach one million barrels a day and then have that number drop down. That's abnormal."

Most outside sources report lower monthly production figures for the country. Argus estimated Venezuelan production in June at about 760,000 b/d.

Tellechea said PdV plans to more than double existing production in 2024 to 1,760,000 b/d through the reactivation of mothballed oil wells.

In his presentation, Tellechea described a Venezuelan energy industry in deep disarray after years of US sanctions and the corruption of the PdV-Crypto scandal. When he took over PdV in January "... there was a supplier overcharging us 400pc for oil well chemicals," Tellechea said. "That boy now is in a different situation. We can't allow that, because that is the heritage of all Venezuelans. We have regrettably arrested a lot of our own officials too. We can't keep on allowing that."

Sanctions are also impeding certain operations, Tellechea said. Gas compressor plants in Zulia state require reengineering, for example, but since they use US technology, reaching agreements with the equipment license holders "have proven impossible."

Tellechea said that when he took over as chief executive of state-owned petrochemical business Pequiven four years ago — a title he still holds — plants such as the Hugo Chavez petchem complex had been "completely stripped" of equipment.

PdV plans sign its first licenses to export natural gas by the end of the year, despite limited natural gas production and no export or import infrastructure. The country will soon also end subsidies for natural gas in the domestic market, he said.

"We need to become natural gas exporters," Tellechea said. Export licenses for condensates and natural gas liquids were issued in May.

By Carlos Camacho

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

News

26/12/24

Viewpoint: MEH-Midland spread to remain wider in 2025

Houston, 26 December (Argus) — WTI Houston's premium to WTI in Midland, Texas, is set to hold at 50¢/bl or wider in 2025, boosted by swelling volumes headed toward the Gulf coast as Houston grows in importance as a center for price discovery. The locational spread between WTI Houston and Midland rose steadily throughout 2024, averaging 49¢/bl year-to-date and widening as high as $1.41/bl during the June trade month as the 1.5mn b/d Wink-to-Webster pipeline was taken offline for repairs. In 2023, the spread averaged 21¢/bl. Trading activity for WTI at Oneok's Magellan East Houston (MEH) terminal — both in the physical and financial markets — climbed to all-time highs in 2024. Reported trade month volumes for WTI Houston swelled to 1.26mn b/d during the December trade cycle, a high for the year, and just 0.8pc below its previous record. On 16 December, WTI Houston trade closed the day at 153,000 b/d for the January trade cycle, the highest single-day trade volume in the history of Argus assessments of the grade. In financial markets, WTI Houston trade activity broke records in 2024, with open interest on CME's WTI Houston futures contract climbing to an all-time high of 412,519 lots — each 1,000 bl — on 21 November. MEH demand up despite export slowdown Trading activity broke records even as US crude exports slowed in the latter half of 2024 on Chinese economic woes that dampened Asian demand. New Chinese stimulus initiatives, namely relaxed fiscal and monetary policy , are meant to reverse that trend, but it remains to be seen if the efforts will work. Further challenges weighing on the US export market are a strengthening dollar combined with a high degree of uncertainty surrounding president-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariff plans, which feature ratcheting-up trade tensions with China even more. Multiple projects to add Permian takeaway capacity at the Texas Gulf coast are in various stages of planning, which could eventually open the window for ever-larger WTI export volumes, and further support WTI Houston against Midland. But industry participants have grown skeptical of the need for new export terminals or other projects. Midstream companies showed little enthusiasm for pitching new coast-bound pipelines from the Permian basin in their end-of-year investor reports . Key firms previously sought more takeaway capacity before the Covid-19 pandemic, when WTI Houston premiums to WTI in Midland consistently topped $1/bl, which would help recoup pipeline construction costs. As it stands, the roughly 3mn b/d total available pipeline capacity from the Permian basin to the Houston area is likely to remain static in coming years. This status quo for onshore infrastructure will help prop open the Houston-Midland WTI premium for the coming year, even if export demand fails to picks up in 2025. By Gordon Pollock WTI Houston-WTI Midland spread Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Find out more

News

Viewpoint: US tariffs may push more Canadian crude east

26/12/24

News

26/12/24

Viewpoint: US tariffs may push more Canadian crude east

Singapore, 26 December (Argus) — Canada may divert crude supplies from the US to Asia-Pacific via the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline in 2025, should president-elect Donald Trump impose tariffs on Canadian imports. Trump has declared that he will implement a 25pc tax on all imports originating from Canada after he is sworn into office on 20 January. This will effectively add around $16/bl to the cost of sending Canadian crude to the US, based on current prices, and impel US refiners to cut their purchases. The US imported 4.57mn b/d of Canadian crude in September, according to data from the EIA. Canadian crude producers are expected to turn to Asian refiners in their search for new export outlets. This is especially after Asian refiners gained easier access to such cargoes following the start-up of the 590,000 b/d TMX pipeline in May. The new route significantly shortens the journey to ship crude from Canada to Asia. It takes about 17 days for a voyage from Vancouver to China, compared with 54 days from the US Gulf coast to the same destination. China has become the main outlet for Asia-bound shipments from Vancouver, accounting for about 87pc of the 200,000 b/d exported over June-November, according to data from oil analytics firms Vortexa and Kpler (see chart). But even if the full capacity of the TMX pipeline is utilised to export crude to Asia from Vancouver, it will still only represent a fraction of current Canadian crude exports to the US. Vancouver sent just 154,000 b/d via the TMX pipeline to US west coast refiners over June-November, Vortexa and Kpler data show. Meanwhile, latest EIA figures show more than 2.63mn b/d of Canadian crude was piped into the US midcontinent in September, while US Gulf coast refiners imported 469,000 b/d. This means Canadian crude prices will likely come under downward pressure from higher costs for its key US market, should Trump's proposed tariffs come to pass. This will further incentivise additional buying from Chinese customers, as well as other refiners based elsewhere in Asia-Pacific. India, South Korea, Japan, and Brunei have already imported small volumes of Canadian TMX crude in 2024. A question of acidity But other Asian refiners have so far been reluctant to step up their heavy sour TMX crude imports because of concerns over the high acidity content. China has been mainly taking Access Western Blend (AWB), which has a total acid number (TAN) as high as 1.6mg KOH/g. Acid from high-TAN crude collects in the residue at the bottom of refinery distillation columns where it can corrode units, which deters many refineries from processing such grades. But Chinese refiners have been able to dilute the acidity level by blending their AWB cargoes with light sweet Russian ESPO Blend, allowing them to save costs compared to buying medium sour crude from the Mideast Gulf. Cold Lake, the other grade coming out of the TMX pipeline, has a lower TAN and is currently popular with refiners on the US west coast. But higher costs from potential tariffs could prompt Cold Lake exports to be redirected from the US to buyers in South Korea, Japan, and Brunei — which had all bought the grade previously. Canadian crude appears to have so far displaced medium sour grades in Asia-Pacific, and this trend is expected to continue should TMX crude flows to the region climb higher in 2025. More Canadian crude heading to Asia may displace and free up more Mideast Gulf medium sour supplies to buyers in other regions, including US refiners looking for replacements to their Canadian crude imports. This will also limit the flows of other arbitrage grades like US medium sour Mars crude to Asia-Pacific, which has already seen exports to Asia dwindle in 2024. Opec+ is also due to begin unwinding voluntary production cuts in April 2025, which means Canadian producers will likely have to lower prices sufficiently to attract buyers from further afield. By Fabian Ng TMX exports from Vancouver (b/d) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Viewpoint: California dairy fight spills into 2025

24/12/24

News

24/12/24

Viewpoint: California dairy fight spills into 2025

Houston, 24 December (Argus) — California must begin crafting dairy methane limits next year as pressure grows for regulators to change course. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has committed to begin crafting regulations that could mandate the reduction of dairy methane as it locked in incentives for harvesting gas to fuel vehicles in the state. The combination has frustrated environmental groups and other opponents of a methane capture strategy they accuse of collateral damage. Now, tough new targets pitched to help balance the program's incentives could become the fall-out in a new lawsuit. State regulators have repeatedly said that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is ill-suited to consider mostly off-road emissions from a sector that could pack up and move to another state to escape regulation. California's LCFS requires yearly reductions of transportation fuel carbon intensity. Higher-carbon fuels that exceed the annual limits incur deficits that suppliers must offset with credits generated from the distribution to the state of approved, lower-carbon alternatives. Regulators extended participation in the program to dairy methane in 2017. Dairies may register to use manure digesters to capture methane that suppliers may process into pipeline-quality natural gas. This gas may then be attributed to compressed natural gas vehicles in California, so long as participants can show a path for approved supplies between the dairy and the customer. California only issues credits for methane cuts beyond other existing requirements. Regulators began mandating methane reductions from landfills more than a decade ago and in 2016 set similar requirements for wastewater treatment plants. But while lawmakers set a goal for in-state dairies to reduce methane emissions by 40pc from 2030 levels, regulators could not even consider rulemakings mandating such reductions until 2024. CARB made no move to directly regulate those emissions at their first opportunity, as staff grappled with amendments to the agency's LCFS and cap-and-trade programs. That has meant that dairies continue to receive credit for all of the methane they capture, generating deep, carbon-reducing scores under the LCFS and outsized credit production relative to the fuel they replace. Dairy methane harvesting generated 16pc of all new credits generated in 2023, compared with biodiesel's 6pc. Dairy methane replaced just 38pc of the diesel equivalent gallons that biodiesel did over the same period. The incentive has exasperated environmental and community groups, who see LCFS credits as encouraging larger operations with more consequences for local air and water quality. Dairies warn that costly methane capture systems could not be affordable otherwise. Adding to the expense of operating in California would cause more operations to leave the state. California dairies make up about two thirds of suppliers registered under the program. Dairy supporters successfully delayed proposed legislative requirements in 2023. CARB staff in May 2024 declined a petition seeking a faster approach to dairy regulation . Staff committed to take up a rulemaking considering the best way to address dairy methane reduction in 2025. Before that, final revisions to the LCFS approved in November included guarantees for dairy methane crediting. Projects that break ground by the end of this decade would remain eligible for up to 30 years of LCFS credit generation, compared with just 10 years for projects after 2029. Limits on the scope of book-and-claim participation for out-of-state projects would wait until well into the next decade. Staff said it was necessary to ensure continued investment in methane reduction. The inclusion immediately frustrated critics of the renewable natural gas policy, including board member Diane Tarkvarian, who sought to have the changes struck and was one of two votes ultimately against the LCFS revisions. Environmental groups have now sued , invoking violations that effectively froze the LCFS for years of court review. Regulators and lawmakers working to transition the state to cleaner air and lower-emissions vehicles will have to tread carefully in 2025. By Elliott Blackburn Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Crude production resumes at Karoon’s Brazil Bauna field

24/12/24

News

24/12/24

Crude production resumes at Karoon’s Brazil Bauna field

Sydney, 24 December (Argus) — Australia-listed oil producer Karoon Energy has restarted its Bauna project offshore Brazil, the firm said today. Output resumed late on 22 December local time, Karoon said. This followed the repair of one of two mooring chains tethering its floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which failed on 11 December , leading the company to cut its 2024 guidance to 27,600-28,100 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), down from an earlier 28,700-29,500 boe/d. The second mooring chain is expected to be repaired by mid-January, Karoon said. An investigation into the failure will be jointly undertaken with FPSO owner and operator Ocyan, and its joint-venture partner Altera Infrastructure. Bauna production was about 24,500 b/d before the shutdown, with Karoon expecting to reach this level again in the coming days. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Viewpoint: US LPG cargo premiums poised to fall

23/12/24

News

23/12/24

Viewpoint: US LPG cargo premiums poised to fall

Houston, 23 December (Argus) — The booming US LPG export market has fueled record spot fees this year for terminal operators that send those cargoes abroad, but those fees are poised to fall next year as additional export capacity comes online. US propane exports surged over the past two years, hitting an all-time high of 1.85mn b/d in the first quarter of this year, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Terminal fees for spot propane cargoes out of the US Gulf coast hit an all-time high of Mont Belvieu +32.5¢/USG (+$169.325/t) in mid-September. US propane production is expected to grow by another 80,000 b/d in 2025 to 2.22mn b/d while the outlook for domestic consumption is fairly steady, at 820,000 b/d next year — meaning even more propane will be pushed into the waterborne market. But that is dependent on US infrastructure keeping up with the pace of production. US export terminals in Houston, Nederland and Freeport, Texas, have run at or above capacity for the last two years given the thirst for cheaper US feedstock, largely from propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant operators in China. This demand has created bottlenecks at US docks, and midstream operators like Enterprise, Energy Transfer, and Targa have rushed to ramp up spending on both pipelines and additional refrigeration to stay ahead of the wave of additional production. US gas output spurs LPG exports As upstream producers have ramped up natural gas production ahead of new LNG projects, most producers are counting on LPG demand from international outlets in Asia to offload the ethane and propane the US cannot consume. For the past four years, Asian buyers have been more than happy to oblige. US propane exports to China rose from zero in 2019, when China imposed tariffs on US imports, to an average of 1.36mn metric tonnes (t) per month in January-November 2024, according to data from analytics firm Kpler, making China the largest offtaker of US shipments. US exports to Japan averaged 480,000t per month throughout most of 2024, and exports to Korea averaged 460,000t per month in the first 11 months of 2024. China, Korea, and Japan received 52pc of US propane exports in 2024, up from 49pc in 2020, according to data from Vortexa. Strong demand in Asia has kept delivered prices in Japan high enough to sustain an open arbitrage between the US and the Argus Far East Index (AFEI). Forward-month in-well propane prices at Mont Belvieu, Texas, have remained well below delivered propane on the AFEI. In 2020, Mont Belvieu Enterprise (EPC) propane averaged a $143/t discount to delivered AFEI — a spread that has only widened as additional PDH units in Asia have come online. During the first 11 months of 2024, the Mont Belvieu to AFEI spread averaged a hefty $219/t, leaving plenty of room for wider netbacks in the form of higher terminal fees for US sellers, especially as a wave of new VLGCs entering the global market has left shipowners with less leverage to take advantage of the wider arbitrage. The resulting wider arbitrage to Asia has kept US export terminals running full for the last two years. So when a series of weather-related events and maintenance in May-September limited the number of spot cargoes operators could sell and delayed scheduled shipments, term buyers willing to resell any of their loadings could effectively name their price. This spurred the record-high premiums for spot propane cargoes in September. New projects may narrow premium An increase in US midstream firm investments in additional dock capacity and added refrigeration in the years ahead could narrow those terminal fees, however. Announced projects from Enterprise and Energy Transfer, in particular, will add a combined 550,000 b/d of LPG export capacity out of Houston and Nederland, Texas by the end of 2026. Enterprise's new Neches River terminal project near Beaumont, Texas, will add another 360,000 b/d of either ethane or propane export capacity in the same timeframe. These additions are poised to limit premiums for spot cargoes by the end of 2025. Already, it appears the spike in spot cargo premiums to Mont Belvieu has abated for the rest of 2024. Spot terminal fees for propane sank to Mont Belvieu +14¢/USG by the end of November. The lower premiums come not only as terminals resume a more normal loading schedule, but at the same time a surplus of tons into Asia ahead of winter heating demand has narrowed the arbitrage. The spread between in-well EPC propane at Mont Belvieu fell from $214.66/t to $194.45/t during November. A backwardated market for AFEI paper into the second quarter of 2025 means US prices are poised to fall more in order to keep the spread from narrowing further. By Amy Strahan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more