Oil and gas companies

BOGOTA: Theft of crude oil from pipelines operated by Colombia's state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol rose by 46% last year, driven by surging robberies along the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, a company spokesman said.On average, 2,638 barrels per day of oil were stolen last year, up from 1,806 bpd in 2019, the spokesman said. The theft represents a fraction of Ecopetrol's production, which stood at 725,000 bpd in 2019.The stolen oil was worth just under $50 million, based on the volume-weighted average for global benchmark Brent in 2020 of $51.37 a barrel, according to Eikon.However, Ecopetrol warned in September that oil and fuel theft was putting communities and the environment at risk as the methods used to tap the pipelines can result in spills affecting soil, bodies of water, animals and plants.Ecopetrol, which produces the lion's share of Colombia's oil output, did not immediately respond to questions about reasons for the increase in theft of its crude.The pipelines are … [Read more...] about Colombia’s Ecopetrol says oil theft from pipelines rose 46% last year

- Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela completed the first half of a transfer of crude from an offshore oil facility that generated concerns about a potential spill, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.PDVSA in December began offloading crude from the Nabarima floating storage and offloading facility (FSO), after images of the facility listing earlier last year raised alarms among workers, activists and governments of neighboring countries about a possible environmental disaster.The facility, part of the Petrosucre joint venture between PDVSA and Italy's Eni SpA in the Gulf of Paria off eastern Venezuela, had been holding some 1.3 million barrels of Corocoro crude. Petrosucre, 74% owned by PDVSA and 26% by Eni, has been inoperative for nearly two years due to U.S. sanctions on PDVSA.Satellite images show that around 570,000 barrels had been transferred from the Nabarima onto the Icaro, a PDVSA-owned vessel anchored nearby, according to Samir Madani, … [Read more...] about Venezuela completes first tranche of oil transfer from offshore facility -sources

MOSCOW, - Russian gas giant Gazprom is placing 8-year Eurobond worth $2 billion, Interfax news agency said on Wednesday, amid strong demand, an indicator that investors saw limited risk from sanctions pressure on the Nord Stream 2 project.Gazprom, which is leading the $11-billion gas pipeline project from Russia to Germany, has been out on the market for a U.S. dollar Eurobond issue of a benchmark size, or no less than $500 million.According to the source, the yield is set at 2.95 per cent.Its initial yield guidance for the issue had been seen at 3.25-3.375 per cent, according to IFR, the financial markets analytical service run by Refinitiv.The yield guidance was later narrowed to around 3.125 per cent and further to 2.9 per cent-2.95 per cent as demand for the upcoming issue exceeded $3.75 billion during the book building, a financial market source told Reuters.In the Eurobond prospectus seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Gazprom has warned of the risks that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline … [Read more...] about Investors buy $2 bln in Gazprom Eurobond, shrugging off Nord Stream 2 sanctions