Oil Indus. Report: Venezuela Has Shut Off Cuba's Supply

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

[Last week, wire services reported that oil shipments from Venezuela
to Cuba had been halted during the aborted coup and hadn't resumed.
Yesterday the Cuban government issued a conservation order asking for
10% energy conservation in the country.  Today, this industry
publication is claiming that oil exports "have been stopped" due to
the Island's reported $63 million in unpaid debt. Since the energy
agreements between Cuba and Venezuela include exchanges of Cuban
services and supplies (especially medical care, but likely other more
strategic assistance as well) instead of cash payments, this is an
odd development. The report itself may be disinformation, or the
result of wishful thinking on the part of Hugo Chavez's many
opponents in the oil industry, and should be taken with a grain of
salt (to mix commodities). There is no doubt much going on behind the
scenes that has not been reported.--NYTransfer]

The Oil Daily - 28 May 2002

State-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) has stopped its
contractual deliveries of crude and oil products to Cuba due to the
Caribbean island's reported $63 million in outstanding debt.

It is the fist time since left-wing President Hugo Chavez took office
in 1999 that Venezuela has halted its 53,000 b/d deliveries to Cuba,
which represent one-third of Cuba's crude supply. During a coup that
ousted Chavez for 48 hours last month, PDV officials vowed not to
deliver an additional drop of oil to Cuba.

A Ministry of Energy source told Oil Daily that despite the current
supply interruption, the left-leaning Chavez administration is keen
in maintaining commercial relations with Cuba. A Cuban delegation is
in Caracas negotiating ways of settling the outstanding debt.

In a parallel development, businessman Pedro Carmona, the
self-appointed president of Venezuela during last month's short-lived
coup (OD Apr.15,p1), asked the Colombian government for political
asylum on Thursday. Carmona had been under house arrest pending an
ongoing investigation of last month's events when at least 17 people
died and hundreds were wounded.

(c) 2002 Energy Intelligence Group. All rights reserved.

source - JosePertierra@aol.com
 
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