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[1/2] A couple who bought a television on sale had their motorcycle towed while shopping in a store during Black Friday sales, in Caracas, Venezuela November 25, 2022. The government allows banks to lend only 27% of their total cashflow, rendering credit cards largely useless as prices balloon on annual inflation of more than 300%. "Consumer credit has died in Venezuela," said Luis Vicente Leon, director of consulting firm Datanalisis, calling credit limits "ridiculous." "The economy needs consumption to be more dynamic," said Gustavo Valecillos, president of the Consecomercio retailers guild, adding layaway helps move inventory. I paid half and the rest in two installments," said construction worker Juan Vegas as he left a shoe store in Caracas.

Persons: Leonardo Fernandez Viloria, Nicolas Maduro, Ernesto Urdaneta, Urdaneta, Betsy Perez, Luis Vicente Leon, Pedro Vallenilla, Ecoanalitica, Gustavo Valecillos, Juan Vegas, Mayela Armas, Mariela Nava, Tibisay Romero, Julia Symmes Cobb, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Black, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Caracas, Venezuela, CARACAS, Latin America, Maracaibo, Valencia, Banks

An oil pump jack is seen in an oil field near Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela October 14, 2022. REUTERS/Issac Urrutia/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHOUSTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil exports remained almost unchanged in November at 651,000 barrels per day (bpd) even as an easing of U.S. sanctions is now allowing sales to trading houses, according to shipping and tanker tracking data. Washington in October temporarily lifted oil sanctions on the country as a way to encourage a presidential election in 2024, which prompted spot sales of Venezuelan crude and fuel oil to traders mostly bound for China. The stagnant production has driven PDVSA to offer trading houses and intermediaries a large portion of its oil stocks for exports. Besides seeking spot cash oil sales, PDVSA also has ramped up fuel imports since October.

Persons: Issac Urrutia, PDVSA, Marianna Parraga, Mircely Guanipa, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, China ., Reuters, Analysts, Chevron, Spain's, Thomson Locations: Lake Maracaibo, Cabimas, Venezuela, Washington, China, China . State, India, Venezuelan, United States, U.S, Houston, Maracay

☆ Thousands of people are cutting off their hair and donating it to help soak up an oil spill in Venezuela that is so large it can be seen from space
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Thousands of people, and their dogs, have donated hair to help clean up Lake Maracaibo. Environmentalists will weave nets out of the hair to stop the oil slicks from spreading. Now, a young environmentalist is trying to change that — by asking volunteers to donate their hair to soak up the oil, The Washington Post reported. AdvertisementAdvertisementEstrach and her team will use the hair to weave nets — called booms — that can both stop oil slicks from spreading and soak up the oil itself. Estrach told the Post that two pounds of hair can soak up between 11 and 17 pounds of oil.

Persons: —, Selene Estrach, Estrach, Phillip McCrory, McCrory Organizations: Service, Washington Post, Proyecto Sirena, NASA, of Locations: Maracaibo, Venezuelan, Alabama, California

A woman walks in the Chevron office as the U.S. government granted a six-month license allowing Chevron to boost oil output in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela, in Caracas, Venezuela December 2, 2022. Current oil flows mark a 70%-increase from average output in 2022. But to go further requires large specialized drilling rigs that might be difficult to find in Venezuela, the people said. The California-based company's campaign calls for addition of at least two powerful drilling rigs. Other foreign oil companies in joint ventures with PDVSA also have begun early planning for possible drilling campaigns.

Persons: Gaby Oraa, Petropiar, PDVSA, Chevron, Marianna Parraga, Sabrina Valle, Matt Spetalnick, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Chevron, REUTERS, Companies, Chevron Corp, OPEC, Treasury, U.S . Office, Foreign Assets, U.S, PDVSA, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Caracas, HOUSTON, Washington, The California, Lake Maracaibo, U.S

[1/2] Oil tanker Kerala, chartered by Chevron, is loaded in the Bajo Grande oil terminal at Maracaibo Lake, in the municipality of San Francisco, Venezuela, January 5, 2023. To back up its license application, Chevron last year signed an oil-for-debt swap with Venezuela's state-run PDVSA. The initial exports have rapidly drained the ventures' oil inventories, which had built up for years. Chevron plans to continue pushing up heavy crude output mainly at oilfields in eastern and western Venezuela belonging to its Petropiar and Petroboscan projects, according to the sources. GOLDEN TICKETChevron's license broke a four-year U.S. prohibition on Venezuelan oil exports to the United States designed to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

☆ Chevron-chartered tanker involved in collision with sanctioned vessel in Venezuela
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Chevron Corp FollowHOUSTON, March 20 (Reuters) - A Liberia-flagged oil tanker chartered by Chevron Corp (CVX.N) had a minor collision with another vessel, the Bueno, in Venezuelan waters on Sunday, according to sources and a shipping report seen by Reuters on Monday. Incidents involving vessels, oil spills, fires and power outages are very frequent in Venezuela as state-run PDVSA's aging oil infrastructure does not receive proper maintenance and needed repairs amid U.S. sanctions on the country. Both were told by the port captain to anchor in specific positions and await inspections, according to a PDVSA shipping report. Tanker Bueno has been working for PDVSA since last year, moving oil and fuel between domestic ports under a time-charter contract. As of Monday, the Kerala had moved away from the collision site while waiting for a loading window at the Bajo Grande terminal, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data.

☆ Caribbean Seeks Venezuela’s Oil and Gas as U.S. Relaxes Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Patricia Garip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Production has plummeted at Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA, which operates these facilities on Lake Maracaibo. Caribbean countries battered by high energy costs are turning to Venezuela for oil and gas as the U.S. eases sanctions that have kept its supplies off limits for years. Trinidad and Tobago received a U.S. Treasury Department license in January to develop a Venezuelan gas field. A prospective refinery operator in Curaçao is seeking to buy Venezuelan crude oil. And officials on other islands have said they hope to restore Venezuelan fuel imports.

☆ Venezuela public sector workers march for better salaries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A demonstrator holds a placard that reads "Together for a living salary", during a march by teachers, health workers, workers' unions members and members of the opposition to demand better salaries, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro faces renewed challenges in its attempt to fight inflation, in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaCARACAS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of public sector workers including teachers, nurses and retired police officers took to the streets in Venezuela on Monday to demand better salaries and pensions at a time when the government of President Nicolas Maduro faces growing inflation. Workers in Venezuela's education and health sectors have held three peaceful demonstrations in a dozen cities so far this year to demand more money. In Maracaibo, the capital of the once-powerful oil-rich Zulia state in northwestern Venezuela, protesters marched to the governor's office. "With a (monthly) salary of just $10 it's impossible for a family of four or five people to survive," Jimenez, 56, said.

☆ Venezuelan teachers march for better pay amid sky-high inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Teachers, retirees and workers' unions marched in at least six Venezuelan cities on Monday to demand better salaries, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro faces renewed challenges in its attempt to fight inflation. The minimum monthly salary for a public school teacher is about $10, while university professors earn between $60 and $80. I earn 460 bolivars a month (about $23)," said Odalis Aguilar, a 50-year-old teacher who marched in the city of Maracay. In the central state of Carabobo, teachers and public employees also held demonstrations, saying salaries do not cover the cost of food and medicine. Over the weekend the government paid public employees a bonus equivalent to $29.80.

Companies Chevron Corp FollowHOUSTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp's (CVX.N) first cargo of Venezuelan crude under a U.S. license received in November has departed from a ship-to-ship transfer hub near Aruba to its Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery, according to shipping data seen by Reuters on Tuesday. State-run oil company PDVSA allocated Chevron the first crude cargo this month, which was loaded at Venezuela's Jose terminal last week, according to shipping data and documents. Chevron's tanker Caribbean Voyager this week transferred the 500,000-barrel cargo of Hamaca heavy crude it had loaded in Venezuela to Malta-flagged vessel Sealeo at a ship-to-ship hub near the Caribbean island of Aruba, Refinitiv Eikon tanker monitoring data showed. The Sealeo is scheduled to arrive in Chevron's Pascagoula refinery on Jan. 15, according to the Eikon data. A separate Venezuelan crude cargo chartered by Chevron on tanker Kerala was on Tuesday at Maracaibo Lake's navigation channel, where lack of dredging and a stranded vessel are creating limitations for ship transit.

But a plan to move heavy oil quickly from inventories at the Petroboscan joint venture with state-run company PDVSA is facing delays because of lack of dredging at Maracaibo Lake's navigation channel, the people said. Petroboscan has instructed vessels since to limit their draft after loading at the Bajo Grande oil terminal. That means about 250,000 barrels of Boscan heavy crude can move at a time through the channel linking Bajo Grande to the Caribbean Sea. In a sign that Chevron expects to expand operations quickly, the oil producer has begun advertising for Venezuelan contract administrators and cargo schedulers. The company wants to assemble a trading team to market oil from Venezuela and expand its role in the four projects.

The Biden administration last week authorized Chevron to expand operations in Venezuela and resume taking prized heavy crude to the United States. Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N), PBF Energy (PBF.N) and Citgo Petroleum have shown interest in getting access to the oil Chevron is expecting in coming weeks, according to the people. No Venezuelan oil officially has been allocated to Chevron yet and no chartering contracts have been signed to transport cargoes to the United States, according to Venezuelan export schedules and Refinitiv freight data. Valero, PBF and other U.S. independent refiners would not need any new authorization to buy Venezuelan oil from Chevron. The primary effect will be to allow some Venezuelan oil to flow back to the United States, "which will help the U.S. refining system," Wirth said.

Some sponsors are U.S.-based relatives of Venezuelans eager to flee political and economic turmoil back home. Diaz, a Venezuelan-American advocate who has lived in the United States for the past 25 years, got in touch with Venezuelans seeking sponsors via social media. Around 7,000 Venezuelans have been approved for the new program since the Oct. 18 launch, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. U.S. sponsors do not need to be related to Venezuelans to support their applications, but they must have permission to reside in the United States. A week after the new program was announced and the Mexico return policy was enacted, U.S. authorities saw an 80% decrease in Venezuelan border encounters.

[1/5] An oil pump jack is seen in an oil field near Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela October 14, 2022. "Among those remaining in the partnerships, few hope to ever recoup pending dividends or commercial debts from PDVSA." Since TotalEnergies and Equinor in 2021 exited one of Venezuela's flagship oil upgrading projects, Petrocedeno, smaller firms have followed. With companies and workers leaving almost en masse, the abandonment of oilfields is visible near Maracaibo Lake, among Venezuela's oldest producing region. Between 2019 and 2021, PDVSA delivered oil cargoes to partners to reduce outstanding debt.

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