Latin America Advisor
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What Is the Effect of Recent Corruption Scandals at PDVSA?
Venezuelan authorities have detained 34 people in a crackdown on alleged corruption at state oil company PDVSA. Former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, who was not among those arrested, resigned last month amid the probe. // File Photo: Venezuelan Government.
Venezuelan authorities have arrested 34 people in connection with a corruption investigation at state oil company PDVSA, Attorney General Tarek Saab said Wednesday. Saab has said the people detained included both government officials and businesspeople. The scheme allegedly involved selling Venezuelan crude oil through the country’s cryptocurrency oversight agency without duly paying PDVSA, which has accumulated some $21 billion in accounts receivable, according to Reuters. The probe prompted former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami to resign on March 20. The next day, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro tapped PDVSA head Pedro Rafael Tellechea as the country’s new oil minister. What are the implications of the graft probe into PDVSA for the future of the company? How might it affect the country’s economy and its political stability?
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Juan Viana, senior director for Oil and Gas/Energy at FTI Consulting: “It has been a long time since we have heard news about PDVSA, and the fact that the Maduro administration is looking into PDVSA may be a signal to the industry and the region. There has been a lot of noise about Venezuela’s oil potential and how to bring it back into the game. We have seen successful efforts from U.S. oil companies, like the recent Office of Foreign Assets Control’s General License 41, authorizing to resume limited extraction operations in Venezuela. Also, in early March, the media revealed that U.S. authorities were investigating companies trading Venezuelan oil in violation of …”
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A sister publication of the Inter-American Dialogue’s daily Latin America Advisor, the weekly Energy Advisor captures fresh analysis from business leaders and government officials on the most important developments in oil and gas, biofuels, the power sector, renewables, new technologies, and the policy debates shaping the future of energy in the Western Hemisphere and beyond. To subscribe or for more information, contact Gene Kuleta, editor of the Advisor, at gkuleta@thedialogue.org.
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