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Marianna Parraga, Reuters
HOUSTON
EnergiesNet.com 07 26 2023
Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA last month began selling spot cargoes of petroleum coke to Maroil Trading, the largest exporter of the country’s oil byproduct, to avoid a total halt in shipments amid contract negotiations, documents showed.
PDVSA and Maroil have been in discussions over the validity of a 2017 contract and millions of dollars in receivables from supplies of Venezuelan petcoke, which has knocked exports in the last two months.
The state firm earlier this month approved two contracts to supply petcoke to new customers, and has also delivered spot cargoes to Maroil so the company can fulfill obligations with its ultimate buyers, according to the documents. Petcoke is a byproduct of oil processing used to fuel cement kilns.
The most recent cargo approved by PDVSA to Maroil is for 25,000 metric tons to be loaded later this month at the Jose port in a shipment bound for Turkey. The cargo was priced at $15 per ton below the Argus 4.5% sulphur green petcoke at the U.S. Gulf Coast index.
The cargo must be fully prepaid in euros, one of the documents showed.
PDVSA delivered three previous cargoes to Maroil since late June under similar terms, a strategy that could help calm final customers wondering about deliveries, especially in Asia.
PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment.
David Houck, an attorney at law firm Winston & Strawn, which represents Maroil, declined to comment on any customer contracts, but said the contract dispute with PDVSA continues.
“As Maroil indicated a few weeks ago, the relationship remains amicable between PDVSA and Maroil,” he added. Winston & Strawn earlier this month had said that Maroil was not facing legal action from its customers over deliveries.
PDVSA’s CEO and oil minister Pedro Tellechea last week said Venezuela is not willing to halt productive operations during contract audits. The country maintains “a good relationship” with Maroil’s owner, Wilmer Ruperti, he said.
Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Daniel Wallis
reuters.com 07 25 2023
