Oil

US Officials Meet Maduro, Fail To Drive Wedge Between Venezuela And Russia

March 8, 2022 José Luis Granados Ceja, Venezuelanalysis. Educate! Oil, Russia, US Sanctions, Venezuela

Mexico City, Mexico – A high-level United States (US) government delegation that visited Venezuela on Saturday failed to produce an agreement with the government of Nicolás Maduro. News of the delegation was first broken by the New York Times, which described the trip as the highest-level visit by US officials in years. Outlets subsequently reported that no agreement was reached. Caracas had not publicly commented on the meeting at the time of writing. According to Reuters, the US team was led by White House Latin America adviser Juan González and made “maximalist” demands concerning electoral guarantees. Citing three people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that the US was seeking new presidential elections, a larger participation of foreign private capital in Venezuela’s oil industry and a public condemnation of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.

How US Meddling Split Sudan

February 3, 2022 T J Coles, The Grayzone. Educate! Oil, Poverty, Sudan, US Imperialism

Like most countries, the Republic of South Sudan is a complex nation of shifting alliances and external influences. Recently, President Salva Kiir, who sports a Stetson hat gifted him by George W. Bush, signed a peace agreement with old enemies, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition. Around the same time, the so-called Embassy Troika consisting of the US, Britain, and Norway facilitated International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs for South Sudan. When China proposes investment schemes, US politicians call it “debt-trap diplomacy.” As has been seen in South Sudan, when Western corporations seek to plunder poor, resource-rich nations, they call it “development.” The West’s interest in South Sudan is oil. Invoking the colonial-era “white man’s burden” of 19th century imperialists, the US government-backed Voice of America recently justified foreign interference in South Sudan by pointing out that the country’s 3.5 billion proven barrels of crude cannot be easily exported due to the lack of pipeline infrastructure and financial mismanagement.

Biden’s Forest Service To Facilitate Quadrupling Of Oil Production

October 23, 2021 Center for Biological Diversity. Educate! Biden administration, climate crisis, Energy, Oil

Salt Lake city, Utah - In a massive blow to U.S. efforts to address the climate crisis, the Biden administration is poised to approve a right-of-way through the Ashley National Forest that would take the climate-damaging Uinta Basin Railway one step closer to being built. The railway would enable crude oil production in the basin to quadruple to 350,000 barrels a day. Over a year, that much oil would produce planet-warming pollution conservatively estimated at 53 million tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the emissions from six of Utah’s dirtiest coal plants. At an October 22 meeting of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, board members discussed a recent meeting in Utah with U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore.

Venezuela’s Oil Production Bounces Back

June 12, 2021 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuelanalysis. Educate! Energy, Environment, Oil, Venezuela

Guayaquil, Ecuador – Venezuela’s crude output increased in May, recovering from the previous month’s fall. The latest Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly report placed the Caribbean country’s May production at 531,000 oil barrels per day (bpd), a rebound from April’s 486,000 bpd, according to secondary sources. In contrast, state oil company PDVSA communicated a higher number of 582,000 bpd. The May figures are the highest in 12 months and put the nation back in the steady growth trend it has been experiencing since the beginning of the year after reaching historic lows in the second half of 2020.

Venezuela And Iran Deepen Alliance With ‘Perfect Trips’

March 1, 2021 Ricardo Vaz, Venezuelanalysis. Create! Iran, Oil, US Sanctions, Venezuela

The Venezuelan government is shipping jet fuel to Iran as part of cooperation to tackle its gasoline and diesel shortages in the South American country. According to Reuters, state oil company PDVSA and its Iranian counterpart NIOC have agreed to a swap deal that sees Tehran ship gasoline to Caracas, with the vessels carrying jet fuel in the opposite direction. Venezuela currently has a glut of the latter, with air traffic all but ground to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic. The agreement is described as a “perfect trip” in the maritime industry as the tankers travel fully loaded in both directions. Oil export monitor Tanker Trackers reported that Iran’s handysize Forest tanker docked in El Palito refinery on February 20 and unloaded 44 million liters of gasoline, approximately 277,000 barrels.

US-Backed Militants Steal 140,000 Barrels Per Day Of Syrian Oil

February 25, 2021 News Desk, AMN News. Educate! Iraq, Oil, Syria, US Imperialism

Tehran - Militants of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by Washington, steal 140,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis from oil fields in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah, according to a report. Ghassan Halim Khalil, governor of Hasakah, announced the grim news in an interview with the Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday, adding that the SDF militants are plundering Syrian oil in various ways, all with the participation and support of American forces deployed to the region. He stressed that precise intelligence collected and received show that US-backed militants use tanker trucks from the Taramish area in Tigris and al-Malikiyah to smuggle the Syrian oil to neighboring Iraq.

How ExxonMobil Uses Divide And Rule To Get Its Way

February 4, 2021 Vijay Prashad, Peoples Dispatch. Educate! Exxon Mobil, Guyana, Oil, South America, Venezuela

Tensions rise between neighboring Guyana and Venezuela over a piece of land that has been disputed since at least 1835. Both Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro have exchanged sharp words about the status of the Essequibo region, which both countries claim. Since 1990, the two countries have pursued their claims through a United Nations “good offices” process; as recently as 2013, President Maduro and Guyana’s then-President Donald Ramotar said that the discussions over Essequibo were “going well” under this UN framework. Everything changed in 2015, and since then the tensions between the two countries have flared up.

Bomb Libya And Take Its Oil

December 1, 2020 Ben Norton, The Grayzone. Educate! Joe Biden, Libya, Oil, Trump

“Unless we take the oil from Libya, I have no interest in Libya,” Donald Trump declared in an April 2011 interview on CNN’s “Newsroom.” The U.S. government was considering military intervention in the oil-rich North African nation at the time. Trump said he would only participate if Washington exploited Libya’s natural resources in return. “Libya is only good as far I’m concerned for one thing — this country takes the oil. If we’re not taking the oil, no interest,” he added. NATO claimed its U.S.-backed bombing campaign was meant to protect Libyans who were protesting the regime of longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi.

Modern Piracy And US Sanctions

October 31, 2020 Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Oil, US Imperialism, US Sanctions, Venezuela

Washington announced in August that it had confiscated 1.1 million barrels of gasoline from four tankers en route between the two countries, which are both under illegal US sanctions. “We estimate that in excess of $40 million will be recouped by the United States related to the sale of petroleum from those four vessels,” Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters by telephone. He added that a “great portion” of it would be contributed to a US fund for victims of “state-sponsored terrorism,” without providing any details.

UAE, Oman And UK Tell Court US Seized Their Oil

September 5, 2020 By Haik Gugarats, Argus Media. Educate! Iran, Oil, Piracy, US Sanctions

Shippers based in the UAE, Oman and the UK told a US court today they hold title to the cargoes seized by the US aboard four tankers that allegedly were transporting petroleum products from Iran to Venezuela. The US Justice Department on 14 August said it took custody of 1.16mn bl of Iranian product aboard four Greek-owned, Liberia-flagged tankers — the Bella, the Bering, the Luna and the Pandi. The vessels were carrying cargoes — interchangeably described by US attorneys as gasoil, gasoline and refined oil — from Iran to Venezuela, the US said. The three companies said they had the right to "title, possession and control" of the cargoes. Today's filing adds a new twist to what the Justice Department described as the first seizure of Iranian cargoes by the US since the re-imposition of sanctions in 2018 banning Iran's exports of crude and products.

US’ Theft Of Syrian Oil Has Very Little To Do With Money

September 4, 2020 Steven Chovanec, Mintpress News. Educate! ISIS, Oil, Syria, US Regime Change

Near the end of July, one of the most important recent developments in U.S. foreign policy was quietly disclosed during a U.S. Senate hearing. Not surprisingly, hardly anybody talked about it and most are still completely unaware that it happened. Answering questions from Senator Lindsey Graham, Secretary of State Pompeo confirmed that the State Department had awarded an American company, Delta Crescent Energy, with a contract to begin extracting oil in northeast Syria. The area is nominally controlled by the Kurds, yet their military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was formed under U.S. auspices and relies on an American military presence to secure its territory.

US Government Seizes Websites Allegedly Involved In Iran-Venezuela Oil Deal

September 1, 2020 Al Monitor. Educate! Iran, Oil, US Sanctions, Venezuela

The US government announced today that it had seized three websites used by Iran to facilitate oil deals with Venezuela. The decision follows the US interception of Iranian oil tankers bound for Venezuela and increased pressure from Washington on both countries. The Department of Justice assumed control of the websites for Mobin International, Sohar Fuel and Oman Fuel, which the department called front companies. The companies allegedly facilitated a fuel shipment by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Venezuela, according to a department press release.

Iranian President Denies US Statements On Tankers Seizures

August 15, 2020 Telesur English. Educate! Iran, Oil, Sanctions, State Department, Venezuela

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani Saturday announced that the U.S. lied about the seizure of four Iranian gasoline tankers headed towards Venezuela. On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department announced that the country’s authorities had confiscated four Iranian fuel tankers bound for Venezuela. “We have successfully executed the seizure of four vessels, that were carrying a total of 1.116 million oil barrels. With the assistance of foreign partners, this seized property is now under U.S. custody,” the U.S. Justice Department stated. However, "non of the seized tankers were Iran-flagged. It was all just fake news,” Rouhani said.

US Seizes Iranian Oil From Four Tankers En Route To Venezuela

August 14, 2020 By Joshua Goodman, Associated Press. Educate! International Law, Iran, Oil, Sanctions, Venezuela

The Trump administration has seized the cargo of four tankers it was targeting for transporting Iranian fuel to Venezuela, U.S. officials said Thursday, as it steps up its campaign of maximum pressure against the two heavily sanctioned allies. Last month, federal prosecutors in Washington filed a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that the sale was arranged by a businessman with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. At the time, sanctions experts thought it would be impossible to enforce the U.S. court order in international waters. A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that no military force was used in the seizures and that the ships weren’t physically confiscated. Rather, U.S. officials threatened ship owners, insurers and captains with sanction to force them to hand over their cargo, which now becomes U.S. property, the official said. It is not clear where the vessels or their cargoes currently are.

United States Stealing Syrian Oil

August 4, 2020 By Amberin Zaman, and Joe Snell, Al-Monitor. Educate! Kurds, Oil, Syria, Türkiye, US Imperiaism

The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria has signed an agreement with an American oil company, well-placed sources with close knowledge of the deal told Al-Monitor. One of the sources said the agreement to market oil in territory controlled by the US-backed entity and to develop and modernize existing fields was inked last week “with the knowledge and encouragement of the White House.” The sources named the company as Delta Crescent Energy LLC, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware. The sources gave no further details about the company but would only say they had been in talks for “a long time” and that it had received an OFAC license to operate in Syria. Oil is a politically radioactive topic, with the central government in Damascus accusing the United States of stealing its oil after Trump declared last year in the wake of Turkey’s October incursion against the SDF that he was keeping some 500 US Special Forces in the Kurdish governed space “for the oil.” Despite steadily tightening sanctions on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the United States has turned a blind eye to ongoing oil trade between the Kurds and Damascus. A fair amount of the oil is also sold at cut-rate prices to the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

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