[StBernard] PdV retains bank in bid to sell US refinery stake

[Westley Annis]

PdV retains bank in bid to sell US refinery stake

25 Jul 2014, 4.05 pm GMT

Caracas, 25 July (Argus) — Venezuelan state-owned PdV has retained Deutsche
Bank to find a buyer for its 50pc stake in the 184,000 b/d Chalmette
refinery in Louisiana, a US-based PdV official told Argus late yesterday.

"PdV has picked Deutsche Bank to find a buyer for its half-share in the
Chalmette refinery," the Venezuelan official said.

The energy ministry in Caracas confirmed today that Deutsche Bank is leading
the search to find a buyer for PdV's interest in the Chalmette refinery "as
soon as possible."

Chalmette Refining, a 50:50 PdV-ExxonMobil joint venture, owns the Chalmette
refinery. But ExxonMobil is the facility's sole operator.

Among the Chalmette refinery´s units is a 40,000 b/d delayed coker.

Venezuelan officials told Argus yesterday that PdV is weighing offers in the
range of $10bn-$15bn to buy its downstream subsidiary Citgo. The planned
sale of Citgo is aimed at raising cash for upstream projects at home,
redirecting more crude supply to China in exchange for oil-backed loans, and
reducing the government´s potential exposure to international litigation.

Energy minister and vice president for economic affairs Rafael Ramirez first
announced in March 2012 that PdV planned to dissolve its joint ventures with
ExxonMobil.

Ramirez said at the time that PdV would not terminate its Chalmette refinery
partnership with ExxonMobil until after the World Bank's International
Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid) issues a final decision
on the US major's compensation claim against Venezuela.

ExxonMobil filed an arbitration request with Icsid in 2009 seeking up to
$12bn in compensation for the May 2007 nationalization of its 41.67pc stake
in the 120,000 b/d Cerro Negro (PetroMonagas) extra-heavy crude upgrader at
PdV's Jose complex in Anzoategui state.

The three-judge Icsid arbitration panel hearing ExxonMobil's claim against
Venezuela is expected to issue a final decision before end-2014 or in
first-half 2015, Caracas-based lawyers monitoring the case said yesterday.

Chalmette is one of the US downstream assets that PdV acquired in the 1990s
to establish a stable wellhead-to-pump structure for its heavy crude.