Petróleos de Venezuela

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Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
Type State-owned enterprise (Public)
Founded 1975
Headquarters Venezuela Caracas, Venezuela
Key people Rafael Ramírez, President
Industry Oil and Gas
Revenue $ 109.342 billion (2006)
▲ Bs. 235.085 trillion (2006)
Subsidiaries PDV Marina
CVP
Pequiven
CIED
PDVSA Gas
PDV (Deltaven)
Palmaven
Electricidad de Caracas, C.A. (93.62%)[1]
Citgo (100%)[2]
more…
Website www.pdvsa.com (Spanish)

Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA [pronounced Peh-deh-VEH-sah]) [Petroleums of Venezuela] is the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil, as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on 1 January 1976 with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the oil industry of Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

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[edit] Reserves and capacity

PDVSA factory in Carabobo, Venezuela.

Venezuela has 77.5 billion barrels (1.232×1010 m3) of conventional oil reserves according to PDVSA figures, the largest in the Western Hemisphere and making up approximately half the total. This puts Venezuela as fifth in the world in proven reserves of conventional oil. By also including an estimated 235 billion barrels (3.74×1010 m3) of tar-like extra heavy crude oil in the Orinoco Belt region, Venezuela claims to hold the largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world. Venezuela also has 150 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.

PDVSA has a production capacity, including the strategic associations and operating agreements, of 4 million barrels per day (600,000 m³). Officials say production is around 3.3 million barrels per day (520,000 m3/d) although most secondary sources such as OPEC and the EIA put Venezuela's output at least 500,000 barrels per day (79,000 m3/d) lower.

[edit] History

PDVSA purchased 50% of the United States gasoline brand Citgo from Southland Corporation in 1986 and the remainder in 1990.[3]

In December 2002 many of PDVSA's managers and employees (including the CTV trade union federation) locked out workers to pressure Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez to call early elections, and virtually stopped oil production for 2 months. The government fired 19,000 employees and reestablished production with employees loyal to the Chávez government.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) called on the Venezuelan government to launch "an independent investigation into allegations of detention and torture", surrounding this strike. [3] The strike caused substantial macroeconomic damage, pushing unemployment up by 5% to a peak of over 20% in March 2003. [4] The company has since formed its own militia, which all employees join on a voluntary basis, to ward off a potential "coup" by the government. It considers itself virtually indistinguishable from the state, its social programs more or less running the country's socialist revolution.[4]

In 2005 PDVSA opened its first office in China, and announced plans to nearly triple its fleet of oil tankers, to 58. [5]

In April and May 2005 PDVSA, per an agreement signed between the governments of Venezuela and Argentina, sent 50 million tonnes of fuel oil to the latter, in order to alleviate the effects of an energy crisis due to a shortage of natural gas.

In November 2005, PDVSA and its subsidiary in the U.S., Citgo, announced an agreement with Massachusetts to provide heating oil to low income families in Boston at a discount of 40% below market price. [6] Similar agreements were later set up with other states and cities in the US Northeast including New York's Bronx, Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Delaware. Under the program, Citgo offered a total of around 50 million gallons of heating oil at below market prices, equivalent to a discount of between 60 and 80 cents a gallon.

In February 2006 PDVSA completed ISO 9001:2000 process certification for its distribution system. [7]

On 28 July 2006, credit ratings agency Moody's Investor Service said it was removing its standalone ratings on PDVSA because the oil company does not provide adequate operational and financial information. PDVSA has still not filed its 2004 financial results with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that were due in June 2005.

In 2007, PDVSA bought 82.14% percent of Electricidad de Caracas company from AES Corporation as part of a renationalization program. Subsequently the ownership share rose to 93.62% (December 2008).[5]

PDVSA has made contributions to the protection of the environment through showcase projects in shanty towns and waste removal.[6]

PDVSA is Latin America's second-largest company, according to the a ranking of the region's top 500 companies from Latin Business Chronicle.

[edit] Presidents of PDVSA

[edit] Overseas assets

The Citgo sign, as seen from Lansdowne St., Boston
  • Citgo Petroleum Corporation, USA - Citgo is 100% owned by PDVSA.
  • Ruhr Oel, Germany - PDVSA holds 50% of Ruhr Oel GmbH, the other half belonging to BP's German unit Aral AG.
  • Nynäs Petroleum, Sweden - PDVSA owns a 50% stake with Finland's Neste Oil Oyj holding the other 50%.
  • Bahamas Oil Refining Company (BORCO), Bahamas - PDVSA is the sole owner of this oil storage terminal in the Caribbean.
  • Hovensa LLC refinery, US Virgin Islands - Hovensa is jointly owned by PDVSA and Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp.
  • Isla refinery, Curaçao - PDVSA leases the Isla refinery in the Netherlands Antilles.
  • BOPEC, Bonaire petroleum corporation 100% owned by PDVSA.

PDVSA also has offices in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, China, Cuba, Spain and Netherlands.

[edit] Politicization

Venezuela's energy minister and head of PDVSA, Rafael Ramírez, gained attention in 2006 when he told state oil workers to back President Hugo Chávez or leave their jobs. He also said: "PDVSA is red, red from top to bottom (...) - PDVSA es roja, rojita de arriba a abajo (...)" (Red being the color identified with Chávez's political party). The opposition said it was illegal for the government to exhort workers to secure Chávez's re-election in the 3 December 2006 elections.

Chávez defended Ramírez arguing that public workers should back up the "revolution". He also said that "PDVSA's workers are with this revolution, and those who aren't should go somewhere else. Go to Miami". Furthermore, Chávez stated that Ramírez should give the same speech to oil workers 100 times a day.[7] PDVSA subsequently changed the colouring of its corporate logo from navy blue to red.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ CITGO - About us
  3. ^ Company History, by Citgo, accessed on 10 December 2007.
  4. ^ German Zambrano, head of communications, cited in "Red Oil". Cutting Edge. 2009.
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ "Red Oil". Cutting Edge. 2009.
  7. ^ Storm over Venezuela oil speech, BBC News,4 November 2006. Accessed online 7 November 2006.

[edit] External links

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