Caribbean sets stage for thorny Venezuela talks

: Crude oil, Oil products
19/07/08

Caribbean nations that used to rely on cheap Venezuelan oil are now hoping to leverage their ties with Caracas to help broker a negotiated settlement to the political crisis there.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido and the government of President Nicolas Maduro confirmed that talks sponsored by the Norwegian government will be held in Barbados this week.

The island's foreign ministry told Argus today that it hopes the talks will lead to a "peaceful settlement of the domestic problems and contribute to peace and stability in the region."

A successful conclusion to the meeting would be "go a far way in reducing pressure on several countries in the region, particularly those that have been receiving refugees from Venezuela" and help normalize economic relations, the ministry said.

Venezuela´s foreign ministry said government representatives arrived in Barbados this morning.

At a summit meeting last week in St Lucia, the leaders of Barbados, St Kitts-Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago were appointed by regional trade block Caricom to help find a diplomatic solution to the Venezuelan crisis.

Caricom leaders concluded their meeting by confirming a policy of "non-interference and non-intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela."

"This issue is one for the Venezuelans to work out," Trinidad´s prime minister Keith Rowley said. "Norwegians have agreed to our approach that there has to be dialogue, and encouraging that dialogue is where we're at."

Norway's prime minister Erna Solberg was a guest at the Caricom summit.

Caricom is playing the role of an honest broker in the Venezuelan crisis, St. Kitts-Nevis prime minister Timothy Harris said.

"It is now quite clear that our principled stance, enunciated from the outset, and our approach are now being accepted by other parties," Harris said, alluding to a more confrontational US-led approach to removing Maduro from power.

Several Caricom members that previously benefited from Venezuelan oil aid are not among more than 50 countries, led by Washington, that recognize Guaido as the country´s interim president.

Influential Caricom member Trinidad that is hoping to reach major natural gas-sharing projects with Venezuela has avoided coming down firmly on either side of the protracted conflict. The government abstained from a 10 January resolution by the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) not to recognize the Maduro government.

Jamaica - another major Caricom member that was once a major beneficiary of the PetroCaribe facility - voted in the January 2019 OAS session not to recognize Maduro's presidency, while not supporting Guaido either. Barbados echoed that stance.

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25/04/08

Kazakhstan continues to massively exceed Opec+ target

London, 8 April (Argus) — Kazakhstan does not expect any major reduction in crude output in April after massively exceeding its Opec+ target in March. Kazakhstan's crude production rose by 43,000 b/d to a record 1.79mn b/d in March, deputy energy minister Alibek Zhamauov said today, putting it 322,000 b/d above its Opec+ target of 1.468mn b/d. He added that Kazakhstan has not yet been able to agree with international oil companies operating the country's largest fields about reducing output. Kazakh production has surged following a major output increase at the Chevron-led Tengiz field in January — part of the field's future growth project (FGP). Zhamauov said that there has not yet been any agreement on reducing Tengiz output as it "is a very challenging action, especially for Chevron [which] spent $50bn on the FGP project [and] told us it's not possible for them to reduce output". Tengiz production hit 901,000 b/d in March, Zhamauov said, compared to previous levels of 600,000-660,000 b/d. Kazakhstan's second-largest oil field, Kashagan, which is also operated by international firms, produced 387,000 b/d in March, he said. Neither are expected to reduce output in April, he added. Zhamauov said that Kazakhstan will try to reduce output from smaller fields operated by domestic producers such as state-controlled Kazmunaigaz. But any decrease from these fields will not be enough to offset the rise from Tengiz. Kazakhstan remains one of the Opec+ alliance's largest overproducers, despite repeatedly pledging to compensate for exceeding its target since January 2024. This has frustrated other Opec+ members, which have largely stuck to their production targets. Kazakhstan's compensation plan states its March production should have been 1.43mn b/d. Kazakhstan's continued overproduction is understood to have contributed towards the decision by Opec+ members to start increasing output from April . Zhamauov said that Kazakhstan's crude production and exports have not been impacted by the closure of two single-point moorings (SPMs) at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast late last month. Kazakhstan's crude exports were 1.41mn b/d in March, up from 1.39mn b/d in February, while refinery runs were 370,000 b/d, up by 22,000 b/d, Zhamauov said. Condensate production was 290,000 b/d, compared to 278,000 b/d in February. This brings Kazakhstan's total liquids production in March to 2.08mn b/d. By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US tariffs set to rise despite Trump talk of deals

25/04/08

US tariffs set to rise despite Trump talk of deals

Washington, 8 April (Argus) — Punitive taxes on imports from key US trading partners are set to rise on Wednesday despite President Donald Trump's claims of multiple trade deals in the making. Trump's 10pc baseline tariff on imports nearly every foreign country already went into effect on 5 April. The higher, "reciprocal" taxes will go into effect as scheduled, at 12:01am ET on 9 April, US trade representative Jamieson Greer told the Senate Finance Committee today. Trump, via his social media platform, said today he discussed a possible trade deal with South Korea and added that "we are likewise dealing with many other countries, all of whom want to make a deal with the United States." Greer told the Senate panel that more than 50 countries have reached out to the US to negotiate trade deals. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent separately claimed that more than 70 countries are interested in a trade deal with the US. Both Democratic and Republican senators on the Senate panel pressed Greer to explain whether negotiations would result in lowering tariff rates. But Greer outlined a process that he expects would lower foreign countries' tariff rates on US products and commit them to buy more US energy and other products. "There are things we can do with our trading partners, things that aren't always purely in the trade sector," Greer said. Possible subjects for trade negotiations could involve "export controls alignment or investment screening, alignment on energy, making sure that our partners are tied up with us with respect to LNG and other resources, as opposed to being dependent on other countries." The US is primarily looking to reduce trade deficits with those countries, Greer said. "What we have told them is, 'if you have a better idea to achieve reciprocity and to get our trade deficit down, we want to talk to you.'" Trump, in turn, suggested that a possible deal with South Korea could include "large scale purchase of US LNG" and "their joint venture in an Alaska Pipeline". The latter is a reference to the planned 20mn t/yr Alaska LNG project, which would be the most expensive liquefaction facilities ever built in the US if it becomes a reality. Trump has talked up potential support for Alaska LNG from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan for months. But the three countries still became subject to high tariffs. By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Libyan crude exports to rise 6pc in April

25/04/08

Libyan crude exports to rise 6pc in April

London, 8 April (Argus) — Libyan crude exports are scheduled to rise by 6pc on the month in April, according to loading programmes. Final April loading schedules for all 12 of the country's crude grades show total exports at 1.23mn b/d this month, around 65,000 b/d higher than the March programme . Loadings of Libya's flagship crude, medium sweet Es Sider, are scheduled to fall by 7pc on the month to 347,000 b/d across 16 cargoes. But exports of all the other grades are scheduled to rise, including a 53pc increase in combined loadings of Sarir and Mesla. April exports of light sweet Esharara, Libya's second-largest export grade, are set at 210,000 b/d across 10 cargoes, up by 3pc compared with the March plan. By Ellanee Kruck Libyan crude exports 000 b/d Grade Loading port April March ±% Es Sider Es Sider 347 374 -7 Esharara Zawia 210 203 3 Sarir/Mesla Hariga 200 131 53 Amna/Sirtica Ras Lanuf 140 135 4 Mellitah Blend Mellitah 100 97 3 Bu Attifel/Zueitina Zueitina 93 90 3 Brega Brega 100 97 3 Al Jurf Farwah 20 19 5 Bouri Bouri 20 19 5 Total 1,230 1,165 6 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Italy's Augusta refinery begins restart operations

25/04/08

Italy's Augusta refinery begins restart operations

Barcelona, 8 April (Argus) — Algerian state-owned Sonatrach has begun restarting units at its 198,000 b/d refinery at Augusta, Sicily, following planned maintenance. The refinery has been having a full five-year turnaround, its first since spring 2019, closely following the purchase of the plant from ExxonMobil at the end of 2018. Sonatrach progressively shut units from around the turn of January-February and said it is restarting them in the same manner. The resumption of operations is underway, it said. The firm is aiming to restart a string of units by 15 April including a propane-butane splitter and LPG Merox unit, a fuels vacuum distillation unit (VDU), a crude distillation unit (CDU), a desulphuriser, a de-waxing unit and a pair of reformers. The firm said there would be flaring and noise during the process. The remaining CDU, the refinery's catalytic cracker (FCC), propylene splitter, lubricants VDU and other units will be restarted between 15-30 April. Market participants have said they expect the first oil products cargoes to be available from Augusta around the middle of the month. By Adam Porter Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Oil companies far from Paris accord alignment: Report

25/04/08

Oil companies far from Paris accord alignment: Report

London, 8 April (Argus) — None of the 30 oil and gas producers assessed are close to being in line with Paris climate agreement targets "and some have regressed", a report from think-tank Carbon Tracker found today. Carbon Tracker flagged "backsliding, particularly around oil and gas production plans" from the producers assessed in its report, Paris Maligned III . The think-tank assessed 30 of the largest producers — a mixture of corporations and national oil companies — against six metrics. These included production plans, greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets and methane reduction targets. It did not assess producers based in countries subject to international sanctions. "Almost all producers are planning to increase oil and gas production in the coming years… Such growth plans are at odds with the Paris Agreement's 1.5˚C target and many are incompatible with a below 2˚C scenario", the report found. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — seen as the overarching consensus on climate science — notes that a substantial reduction in fossil fuels is needed in order to reach climate goals. The Paris agreement seeks to limit the rise in global temperatures to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels and preferably to 1.5°C. The only producers assessed that are not planning to increase production are London-listed independent Harbour Energy and Spain's Repsol, Carbon Tracker found. Carbon Tracker ranked Repsol highest overall for alignment with Paris agreement goals and Harbour Energy in second place. European companies were ranked more highly in line with Paris goals, with seven of the top 10 places. Three state-owned oil companies — Mexico's Pemex, Algeria's Sonatrach and Kuwait's KPC — and US firms ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips took the five lowest places in the ranking table. "Despite some political and market headwinds, investor engagement on climate risk remains strong, particularly in Europe", the report noted. Carbon Tracker this year scored companies on the extent to which they planned to cut methane emissions — specifically "near-zero methane by 2030" across upstream activities and "midstream gas assets where applicable", it said. This is in line with the decarbonisation charter which many of the companies assessed signed up to at the UN Cop 28 climate summit in December 2023. Companies' methane reduction plans "are typically more climate-aligned than their overall GHG targets", the report found. But "there is still considerable room for improvement because significant sources of methane emissions are overlooked", it added. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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