PDVSA willing to hand over majority stakes in Petro Güiria and Petro Paria …
The former president of Chevron for Latin America, Ali Moshiri, now in his role as president of Amos Global Energy and Gramercey & AMOS Venezuela Holdings (GAGE) and as a connoisseur of the Venezuelan reality found his vernacular ally in Jorge Rojas, president of Inelectra to return to the hydrocarbons business in Venezuela and be a pioneer in boosting crude oil production in a post-sanctions context, reports the weekly Exclusivas Económicas.
The publication assures that it has the approval of President Nicolás Maduro, but its obstacle remains that the joe Biden government does not finish allowing the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury (OFAC) to endorse its operation and grant it a specific or particular license.
A month and a half ago both managers announced the creation of GAGE, formed by both companies together with the investment fund Gramercey Funds Management, under the idea that in the short term OFAC would give its endorsement, taking into account that Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) would cede its majority shareholding in the joint ventures Petro Paria and Petro Güiria, with operations in the east of the country, adds the weekly.
"Inelectra has been a key partner with several multinational corporations for many decades. On behalf of GAGE, we are excited that they have accepted our partnership and look forward to developing the Gulf of Paria region," Moshiri said in his message. Rojas, on behalf of Inelectra, responded: "Amos Global Energy is a strategic partner with its management team and strong operational experience in Venezuela and around the world."
Economic Exclusives warns that a month and a half after those statements, the political and legal uncertainty on the part of the Biden administration continues to weigh on the progress of this agreement and the expectation is that it will only be after November – after the midterm parliamentary elections in the United States – when there is certainty about the final decision that OFAC can adopt, as Chevron also faces.
Moshiri was key in Chevron's decision to stay in Venezuela in 2007, when the other U.S. companies that were in the country (ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips) refused to migrate from their majority stake in the strategic partnerships of the Orinoco belt to a minority scheme in joint ventures in partnership with the control of PDVSA with more than 50%.
Chevron, led in Latin America by Moshiri, on that occasion embarked on the path of acting as an ally of PDVSA, first under the control of Hugo Chávez and then Nicolás Maduro, but not exempt from facing a number of disagreements especially during the management of Rafael Ramírez, while ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil chose to initiate lawsuit processes before international arbitration centers and that both companies ended up winning.