U.S. To Let Eni, Repsol Ship Venezuela Oil To Europe

Reuters June 5, 2022

By Marianna Parraga and Matt Spetalnick

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) – Italian oil company Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to make up for Russian crude, five people familiar with the matter said, resuming oil-for-debt swaps halted two years ago when Washington stepped up sanctions on Venezuela.

The volume of oil Eni and Repsol are expected to receive is not large, one of the people said, and any impact on global oil prices will be modest. But Washington’s greenlight to resume Venezuela’s long-frozen oil flows to Europe could provide a symbolic boost for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The U.S. State Department gave the nod to the two companies to resume shipments in a letter, the people said. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration hopes the Venezuelan crude can help Europe cut dependence on Russia and re-direct some of Venezuela’s cargoes from China. Coaxing Maduro into restarting political talks with Venezuela’s opposition is another aim, two of the people told Reuters.

The two European energy companies, which have joint ventures with Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA, can count the crude cargoes toward unpaid debts and late dividends, the people said.

A key condition, one of the people said, was that the oil received “has to go to Europe. It cannot be resold elsewhere.”

Washington believes PDVSA will not benefit financially from these cash-free transactions, unlike Venezuela’s current oil sales to China, that person said. China has not signed onto Western sanctions on Russia, and has continued to buy Russian oil and gas despite U.S. appeals.

The authorizations came last month, but details and resale restrictions have not been reported previously.

Eni ENI.MI and Repsol REP.MC did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

OTHERS EXCLUDED

Washington has not made similar allowances for U.S. oil major Chevron CorpCVX.N, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) ONGC.NS and France’s Maurel & Prom SAMAUP.PA, which also lobbied the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury Department to take oil in return for billions of dollars in accumulated debts from Venezuela.

All five oil companies halted swapping oil for debt in mid-2020 in the midst of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign that cut Venezuela’s oil exports but failed to oust Maduro.

PDVSA has not scheduled Eni and Repsol to take any cargoes this month, according to a June 3 preliminary PDVSA loading program seen by Reuters.

Venezuela Vice President Delcy Rodriguez tweeted last month she hoped the U.S. overtures “will pave the way for the total lifting of the illegal sanctions which affect our entire people.”

OUTREACH TO CARACAS

The Biden administration held its highest level talks with Caracas in March, and Venezuela freed two of at least 10 jailed U.S. citizens and promised to resume election talks with the opposition. Maduro has yet to agree on a date to return to the negotiating table.

Republican lawmakers and some of Biden’s fellow Democrats who oppose any softening of U.S. policy toward Maduro have blasted the U.S. approach to Venezuela as too one-sided.

Washington maintains further sanctions relief on Venezuela will be conditioned on progress toward democratic change as Maduro negotiates with the opposition.

Last month, the Biden administration authorized Chevron, the largest U.S. oil company still operating in Venezuela, to talk to Maduro’s government and PDVSA about future operations in Venezuela.

About that time, the U.S. State Department secretly sent letters to Eni and Repsol saying Washington would “not object” if they resumed oil-for-debt deals and brought the oil to Europe, one of the sources told Reuters.

The letters assured them they would face no penalties for taking Venezuelan oil cargoes to collect on pending debt, said two people in Washington.

CHEVRON CONSIDERATION

Chevron’s request to the U.S. Treasury to expand its operations in Venezuela came as the State Department issued the no-objection letters to Eni and Repsol. The person familiar with the matter in Washington declined to say whether Chevron’s request remained under consideration.

The U.S. oil major did receive a six-month continuation of a license that preserves its assets and U.S. approval to talk with Venezuelan government officials about future operations.

It was not immediately clear if Washington had okayed the prior crude-for-fuel swaps European companies conducted with PDVSA until 2020, exchanges that provided relief to gasoline-thirsty Venezuela.

China has become the largest customer for Venezuelan oil, with as much as 70% of monthly shipments destined for its refiners.

https://gcaptain.com/u-s-to-let-eni-repsol-ship-venezuela-oil-to-europe/

US May Allow More Iran Oil to Flow Even Without Deal

Bloomberg June 5, 2022

By Paul Wallace

Jun 5, 2022 (Bloomberg) –The US may allow more sanctioned Iranian oil onto global markets even without a revival of the 2015 nuclear accord, according to the biggest independent crude trader.

While a new agreement would limit Iran’s atomic activities and ease US sanctions on its energy exports, talks between Tehran and world powers have stalled since March. Oil traders are increasingly pessimistic that negotiators will strike a deal.

Still, US President Joe Biden could decide that the need to bring down record-high pump prices ahead of November’s midterm elections outweighs the benefit of strictly enforcing sanctions, including by seizing more Iranian oil tankers.

“Uncle Sam might just allow a little bit more of that oil to flow,” Mike Muller, head of Asia at Vitol Group, said Sunday on a podcast produced by Dubai-based Gulf Intelligence. “If the midterms are dominated by the need to get gas prices lower in America, turning a somewhat greater blind eye to the sanctioned barrels flowing out is probably something you might expect to see. US intervention in these flows has always been pretty sparse.”

Chances of Reviving Iran Nuclear Pact Shrinking, EU Says

The US confiscated oil from an Iranian-flagged vessel off Greece last month, which was followed days later by Tehran detaining two Greek tankers in the Persian Gulf. But Washington’s move is unlikely to signal the start of more tanker seizures by the US, according to Muller.

Iran has raised oil exports this year, most of them ending up in China. A new nuclear deal would lead to an additional 500,000 to 1 million barrels per day coming on to international markets, enough to weigh on prices, according to energy analysts. The Islamic Republic also has around 100 million barrels of oil in storage that could be sold down quickly.

Crude prices have soared more than 50% this year to almost $120 a barrel, mostly because of the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While many Republicans and some Democrats oppose any lifting of Iranian sanctions, Biden is under plenty of pressure to lower gasoline prices, which have shot up to an average of more than $4.80 per gallon in the US.

Never Been Wider

There’s little consensus about the direction of oil prices, according to Vitol, which traded 7.6 million barrels of crude and refined products a day in 2021. While supplies are tight, Washington’s release of strategic reserves is helping balance the market.

Thursday’s decision by OPEC+ — a 23-nation group of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia — to accelerate output increases is unlikely to have much impact, Muller said. That’s because many members will struggle to pump more and Moscow’s exports could drop due to sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

“The range of expert opinion out there has never been wider,” said Muller, who’s based in Singapore. “There are people who think the market’s going to $135-$140 a barrel. And there are people who think we’re going below $100 again.”

Two Worlds

There’s also a dichotomy emerging between richer and poorer countries, he said. Some in Asia such as Malaysia and Singapore are experiencing a demand rebound as coronavirus lockdowns ease. Others including Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which has defaulted on international bonds and is struggling to pay for fuel imports, are experiencing demand destruction.

“It’s a tale of two worlds,” Muller said. “The affluent world is going to have their holidays and burn jet fuel. But the impact elsewhere is a lot more profound. The divide between the prosperous and the countries that have a lower ability to pay for commodities is becoming extremely stark.”

https://gcaptain.com/us-may-allow-more-iran-oil-to-flow-even-without-deal/