Exclusive: Rosneft Sechin flies to Venezuela and reprimands Maduro about oil shipments

WASHINGTON / MEXICO (Reuters) – The head of the Russian oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM), Igor Sechin, went this week to Caracas to meet Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and complained about the delay in oil shipments to repay loans, said two sources about of the Saturday conversation.

This visit, which has not been publicly disclosed, is one of the most obvious signs of tension between Venezuela in crisis and its main financier, Russia.

In recent years, Moscow has become the last donor of Venezuela. The Russian government and Rosneft have granted it at least $ 17 billion in loans and lines of credit since 2006, according to Reuters calculations.

The state oil company PDVSA repays almost all its oil debts, but its collapse of the oil industry prevents it from fulfilling its obligations.

Sechin and a large delegation of leaders met with PDVSA officials in a hotel in Caracas this week. Sechin also met with Venezuelan leftist leader Maduro and reprimanded him for excessive loan shipments that had fallen behind.

"He brought information that they were fulfilling their obligations to China but not to them," an informed source said.

"They run in PDVSA for this reason," added the source, asking to remain anonymous because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

The country's oil output has dropped to 1.17 million barrels a day, a 37 percent drop from last year, according to secondary sources reported to OPEC, leaving the United States the trouble to send the some 380,000 barrels a day that he had agreed to send, according to PDVSA documents seen by Reuters.

The closure of a wharf in Venezuela's main oil export port, through which the vast majority of Rosneft transit shipments have delayed millions of barrels of crude oil since August.

Sechin handed Maduro graphs of oil deliveries to Russian entities in relation to China, the two sources said.

The main Chinese financier, who injected more than $ 50 billion into Venezuela, is also paid back in oil.

According to Reuters calculations based on PDVSA data, the Caracas-based company provided approximately 463,500 bpd to Chinese companies between January and August, a compliance rate of about 60 percent. This compares to around 176,680 barrels per day for Russian entities, a compliance rate of 40%.

Rosneft and PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sources familiar with Sechin's visit, as well as two separate sources, said a Chinese delegation was also in Caracas this week.

CHINA AND RUSSIA LIFE FOR OIL OF VENEZUELA

Since the beginning of 2017, PDVSA has begun to lag behind its crude and fuel deliveries under the loan agreements with China and Russia due to problems in its oil industry, which is home to the largest oil reserves. in the world, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Problems encountered include operational incidents, such as refinery breakdowns and delayed tanker hull cleaning, and financial disputes with service providers owed by PDVSA.

In April, Rosneft and PDVSA signed a refinancing agreement to allow the Venezuelan company to catch up on loan payments by delivering more crude to Rosneft. As part of this refinancing, PDVSA is to supply Rosneft with approximately 380,000 bpd, compared to approximately 310,000 bpd, according to Reuters calculations.

The Russian company was planning to use Jose's southern wharf to recover shipments before a tanker collision in August delayed exports to Rosneft. PDVSA reopened the wharf earlier this month, sources said.

China has agreed to use ship-to-ship operations to avoid cluttered ports in Venezuela. However, customers to whom Rosneft sends Venezuelan crude, Nayara Energy, a Russian-backed Indian refiner, and the Indian conglomerate Reliance, have not accepted STS transfers, which may increase delays.