Posted on 04/25/2018 9:37:53 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
U.S. oil major Chevron Corp has evacuated executives from Venezuela after two of its workers were imprisoned over a contract dispute with state-owned oil company PDVSA, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
Chevron asked other employees to avoid the facilities of its joint venture with the OPEC nation’s oil firm, the sources said.
The arrests, in a raid by national intelligence officers, were the first at a foreign oil firm since Venezuela’s government launched a purge last fall that has resulted in detentions of more than 80 executives at PDVSA and business partners.
The Chevron workers may face charges of treason for refusing to sign a supply contract for furnace parts drawn up by PDVSA executives, Reuters reported earlier this week. The workers balked at the high costs of the parts and a lack of competitive bids.
Chevron’s move to evacuate its expatriate workforce underscores the how arduous it has become for foreign oil firms and their workers to sustain operations through Venezuela’s accelerating political and economic meltdown.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Reminds me of the old adage: a fool and his money are soonest parted.
Welcome to Venezuela!
Wyatt’s Torch.............................
What, they are oil executives still there?
Yup, the real news is that there are still U.S. oil people still there. Makes you go “hmmm”.
Chevron was one of the few foreign companies still willing to do business in Venezuela. Oh well.
I read somewhere they are the LAST such company. Or were the last.
ping.
Evacuated the executives, and told the other workers to try to avoid the headquarters. LOL
The Chevron workers may face charges of treason for refusing to sign a supply contract for furnace parts drawn up by PDVSA executives, Reuters reported earlier this week. The workers balked at the high costs of the parts and a lack of competitive bids.
One does not challenge official corruption. It's worth it for Chevron to try to tough it out rather than write off their facilities in toto, and the Party knows it. At some point Chevron gives up and takes the hit. A well-adjusted parasite knows not to suck too much blood but a foolish one gets greedy.
I wish thackney was still around to refute my statements about the oil industry with his superior knowledge, but here goes the speculation.
Chevron still has assets in Venezuela, but I doubt they’ve put much new money into them lately. The oil industry requires a lot of continuing investment to maintain “state of the art” in its infrastructure. The chaotic state of government and society in Venezuela made it a very bad business climate. Also, Venezuela crude is very heavy and hard for refineries to digest. Only a few refineries can handle Venezuelan crude and they are in Houston. The Houston refineries don’t really need the Venezuelan crude as they are still at capacity with Permian, Bakken and Athabascan crude.
So my guess is that Chevron has been de facto winding down its Venezuelan operations just by not putting any money into them. And the oil isn’t going anywhere; a return of stability to Venezuela a generation from now, and Chevron will be back to take up where they left off.
Agreed, thackney was one of the best.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.