Press Mentions

The worsening of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela due to oil sanctions was a risk the Trump administration was willing to take. They were calculating that ultimately sanctions were the only way to get Maduro to fall.

O marco regulatório para exploração e produção no Brasil está bem desenhado. Porém, ainda há preocupação e incertezas quanto à autonomia da política de preços dos combustíveis da Petrobras.

Creo que en México [con la suspensión de las rondas petroleras] veremos un mayor impacto [que en Brasil], porque no tienes estos campos masivos [presal]."

Hay mucha evidencia de que [Rusia] sí está apoyando a Maduro. Eso está clarísimo. Han ayudado en evitar las sanciones, sobre todo las financieras, porque han ayudado en hacer transacciones. Es una combinación de interés geopolítico y económico.

The oil sanctions were imposed weeks ago and I think the [Trump] administration expected Maduro to have fallen by now […] Venezuela is struggling to find buyers for its crude oil, but it is still getting shipments into India and Europe so pressuring other countries and banks to more strictly impose US sanctions is one of the few options left.

The threat of sanctions has been floating around in the U.S. for many years. They were always worried about the fear that the humanitarian crisis would get worse because the economic situation would get worse without a guarantee there would be a positive change in government. That threat still exists — we still don’t know how this is going to end up.

[PDVSA] is definitely looking for every creative solution it can [to replace US business]. They are not just sitting there waiting to see what happens […] I just don’t know if what they are doing is enough to completely get around the sanctions.

O regime chavista utiliza diesel [importado] para geração de eletricidade, então também podemos começar a ver cada vez mais apagões.

The big mistake [in Venezuela] was not diversifying the economy and being so dependent and so reliant on the petroleum sector. That’s virtually the only thing that Venezuela produces.

China made itself indispensable [to Venezuela]: it very generously gave billions of dollars in low-interest loans, first to Chávez and then to Maduro, in exchange for the export of oil.

Anyone could run afoul of the [US] sanctions by having any sort of transaction with PDVSA. This is why I think the sanctions will be so far-reaching.

Venezuelan oil production will drop further as a result of the sanctions. They will have to sell oil at more of a discount, and there will be impact on cash flow. Venezuela will have to find new suppliers for light oil for blending. How difficult it will be to receive oil and cash from other places beyond the U.S. also remains unclear.

El gobierno de Trump decidió que éste es el momento en que Maduro está tan cerca de caer que con un empuje más, se cae. Es una apuesta—todavía existen los mismos riesgos que antes, que empeora la situación humanitaria.

Bolsonaro va poursuivre une politique générale d'ouverture des secteurs du pétrole et de l'électricité aux investissements privés.

[Before the Mexican energy reform] you couldn't have regular utility-scale projects with power generation from private companies. Now there are no restrictions on that.