Tag Archives: Eni

Italy’s Eni working with Gazprom to resolve Russian gas flow halt

MILAN, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Italy’s Eni (ENI.MI) said it not would receive any of the gas it had requested from Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) for delivery on Saturday, but the firms said they were working to fix this.

Russian gas supplies through the Tarvisio entry point will be at zero for Oct. 1, Eni, the biggest importer of Russian gas in Italy, said in a statement on its website.

Moscow and several European countries, including Germany, have been at loggerheads over the supply of natural gas from Russia since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

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The European Union says that Moscow is using the flow of gas needed for energy in the region as an economic weapon, something that Russia has consistently denied, blaming instead the impact of Western sanctions for any disruptions in supply.

Gazprom said in a statement on Telegram that the problem was the result of regulatory changes in Austria.

Russia’s state-owned energy giant said that gas transit through Austria had been suspended after the country’s grid operator refused to confirm transport nominations.

Austria’s gas grid operator was not immediately available for comment on Saturday to respond to Gazprom’s comments.

A spokesperson for Eni, however, said that Austria continued to receive gas on its border with Slovakia.

Italy has secured additional gas imports this year from alternative suppliers to make up for a fall in flows from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine.

Russian gas now accounts for around 10% of Italian imports, down from around 40%, a source close to the matter said, while the share for Algeria and the Nordics has increased.

Elsewhere, Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Moldova by around 30%, Vadim Ceban, director of gas firm Moldovagaz, said.

On Friday, Moldova’s deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said Gazprom had warned it about the reduction.

Spinu said on Saturday that technical problems caused the reduction and Moldova would ask Gazprom to increase supplies.

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Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Francesca Landini in Milan, additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London, Michael Shields in Zurich and Alexander Tanas in Chisinau, editing by Gareth Jones, Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith

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EXCLUSIVE U.S. to let Eni, Repsol ship Venezuela oil to Europe for debt -sources

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) – Italian oil company Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to make up for Russian crude, five people familiar with the matter said, resuming oil-for-debt swaps halted two years ago when Washington stepped up sanctions on Venezuela.

The volume of oil Eni and Repsol are expected to receive is not large, one of the people said, and any impact on global oil prices will be modest. But Washington’s greenlight to resume Venezuela’s long-frozen oil flows to Europe could provide a symbolic boost for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The U.S. State Department gave the nod to the two companies to resume shipments in a letter, the people said. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration hopes the Venezuelan crude can help Europe cut dependence on Russia and re-direct some of Venezuela’s cargoes from China. Coaxing Maduro into restarting political talks with Venezuela’s opposition is another aim, two of the people told Reuters.

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The two European energy companies, which have joint ventures with Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA, can count the crude cargoes toward unpaid debts and late dividends, the people said.

A key condition, one of the people said, was that the oil received “has to go to Europe. It cannot be resold elsewhere.”

Washington believes PDVSA will not benefit financially from these cash-free transactions, unlike Venezuela’s current oil sales to China, that person said. China has not signed onto Western sanctions on Russia, and has continued to buy Russian oil and gas despite U.S. appeals.

The authorizations came last month, but details and resale restrictions have not been reported previously.

Eni (ENI.MI)declined comment, citing a policy of not commenting “on issues of potential commercial sensitivity.” Repsol (REP.MC) did not reply to requests for comment.

OTHERS EXCLUDED

Washington has not made similar allowances for U.S. oil major Chevron Corp(CVX.N), India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) (ONGC.NS) and France’s Maurel & Prom SA(MAUP.PA), which also lobbied the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury Department to take oil in return for billions of dollars in accumulated debts from Venezuela.

All five oil companies halted swapping oil for debt in mid-2020 in the midst of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign that cut Venezuela’s oil exports but failed to oust Maduro.

PDVSA has not scheduled Eni and Repsol to take any cargoes this month, according to a June 3 preliminary PDVSA loading program seen by Reuters.

Venezuela Vice President Delcy Rodriguez tweeted last month she hoped the U.S. overtures “will pave the way for the total lifting of the illegal sanctions which affect our entire people.”

OUTREACH TO CARACAS

The Biden administration held its highest level talks with Caracas in March, and Venezuela freed two of at least 10 jailed U.S. citizens and promised to resume election talks with the opposition. Maduro has yet to agree on a date to return to the negotiating table. read more

Republican lawmakers and some of Biden’s fellow Democrats who oppose any softening of U.S. policy toward Maduro have blasted the U.S. approach to Venezuela as too one-sided.

Washington maintains further sanctions relief on Venezuela will be conditioned on progress toward democratic change as Maduro negotiates with the opposition.

Last month, the Biden administration authorized Chevron, the largest U.S. oil company still operating in Venezuela, to talk to Maduro’s government and PDVSA about future operations in Venezuela. read more

About that time, the U.S. State Department secretly sent letters to Eni and Repsol saying Washington would “not object” if they resumed oil-for-debt deals and brought the oil to Europe, one of the sources told Reuters.

The letters assured them they would face no penalties for taking Venezuelan oil cargoes to collect on pending debt, said two people in Washington.

CHEVON CONSIDERATION

Chevron’s request to the U.S. Treasury to expand its operations in Venezuela came as the State Department issued the no-objection letters to Eni and Repsol. The person familiar with the matter in Washington declined to say whether Chevron’s request remained under consideration.

The U.S. oil major did receive a six-month continuation of a license that preserves its assets and U.S. approval to talk with Venezuelan government officials about future operations. read more

It was not immediately clear if Washington had okayed the prior crude-for-fuel swaps European companies conducted with PDVSA until 2020, exchanges that provided relief to gasoline-thirsty Venezuela.

China has become the largest customer for Venezuelan oil, with as much as 70% of monthly shipments destined for its refiners. read more

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Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; writing by Gary McWilliams; Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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