Trump Threatens Repsol Over Its Business In Venezuela: 1% Of Capital Employed And 7% Of Production

Repsol's exposure to Venezuela crisisThe US already demanded Repsol to change its business model in Venezuela last February

Once again the US has threatened Spanish oil company Repsol and other companies that pump oil in Venezuela and sell it on the international market with “devastating” sanctions. In addition to Repsol, the Italian company ENI and India’s Reliance are currently operating in Venezuela. To reinforce his message, the director for the Americas of the US National Security Council, Mauricio Claver-Carona, in statements to the NTN2 television channel, directly singled out Chevron, the second largest oil company in the US. It has had to stop operating in Venezuela after the ultimatum from Donald Trump’s administration. A decision also recently taken by US firm Halliburton. its business in Venezuela: 1% of capital employed and 7% of production

This type of information keeps recurring. In fact, in February the U.S. State Department for Venezuela already demanded that Repsol change its business model in Venezuela. Repsol’s response was to maintain its position in the Latin American country. So Bankinter’s experts say “we see a reduced probability that the sanctions will happen.” For its part, Repsol has assured that it complying, has complied and will continue to comply with the law and the established embargoes.

As a reference, Repsol’s exposure to Venezuela is: 270 million dollars of capital employed (1%) and 50,000 barrels (7% of total production). This exposure has been lowered in recent years.

The impact on the stock market was reduced after the threats: the share price fell 1.1% vs 2.5% for the Ibex-35.

Just as a reminder, Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft (which has the UK’s BP, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and the raw materials’ giant Glencore as minority shareholders) left Venezuela last weekend, following the US Government’s threats. It announced the sale of its operations in the country to another Russian state-owned company, Zarubezhneft. Whatsmore its tankers, which were waiting to be loaded with crude oil off the coast of Venezuela, have left the region empty, according to Reuters.

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