PdV touts crude blending project with Chevron

Venezuelan state-owned PdV said Orinoco crude blending operations at its 210,000 b/d PetroPiar extra-heavy crude upgrader started on 27 July, one day after the US extended a sanctions waiver for minority partner Chevron.

PetroPiar's first shipment of 520,000 bl of Merey blend was shipped yesterday, PdV officials in Caracas and the Jose terminal in Anzoategui state said.

The Merey was shipped was "in compliance with the supply and financing contract" that PdV has with Chevron, which holds a 30pc stake in the upgrader now converted into a crude blending operation, the PdV official at Jose said.

The destination of the cargo was not immediately clear, but most of Venezuela´s Merey goes to the Indian and Chinese markets.

Diluted extra-heavy Orinoco crude (DCO) transported from the Orinoco oil belt to PetroPiar at the Jose complex is processed by the upgrader's distillation unit to recover naphtha diluent, before the crude is blended with domestic light Santa Barbara, Anaco Wax or Mesa grades to yield 16°API Merey blend.

PetroPiar will produce an initial 130,000 b/d of Merey, with plans to raise production to 170,000 b/d before the end of August, a PdV official said.

PetroPiar is one of four Orinoco upgraders built in the late 1990s to produce sweet synthetic crude, mainly for the US market.

The 140,000 b/d PetroMonagas upgrader and 200,000 b/d PetroCedeno upgrader have been in recirculation mode for months as PdV retrofits key units at both facilities to prepare them for blending.

PdV officials Jose said both upgraders will start producing Merey blend in August.

Currently there are no plans to resume upgrading operations to produce syncrude until US sanctions against Venezuela's oil are lifted, allowing PdV and its joint ventures to resume normal operations.

Russian state-controlled Rosneft on paper holds a 40pc stake in PetroMonagas.

PetroCedeno's minority stakeholders include Total with 30.3pc and Norway's Equinor with 9.7pc.

PdV's wholly owned 102,000 b/d Petro San Felix upgrader has been shut down since late 2017.

Crude blending operations at PetroPiar started officially one day after the US Treasury Department on 26 July issued a three-month extension exempting Chevron from sanctions targeting Venezuela's oil sector.

Chevron and oil field service providers Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford now have until 25 October to wind down business in Venezuela.