Chevron Names Brazil Chief To Lead Venezuela Operations After Arrests
RIO DE JANEIRO/HOUSTON, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp has permanently assigned its Brazil country chief to run its Venezuelan operations after the months-long detention of two executives escalated tensions between the OPEC-member nation and foreign oil firms.
Javier La Rosa, who had been president of Chevron Brazil since 2016, this month was named president of Chevron Venezuela, the company confirmed on Friday. He replaced the company's Venezuela general manager, Christopher Whatley.
La Rosa joined Chevron in 2000 and had headed Venezuelan commercial operations for the company from 2005 to 2008, his LinkedIn page said. He flew to Caracas shortly after Chevron employees were detained to temporarily lead the Venezuela unit, according to two other people familiar with the matter.
La Rosa's appointment comes after a tense showdown between foreign oil companies and the government in recent months as Venezuela's political and economic meltdown deepened.
Venezuelan authorities this week released the two executives jailed since April as part of an ongoing graft probe into the oil sector, which has unnerved other foreign companies operating in partnership with state oil company PDVSA.
The arrests, related to the executives' refusal to sign a supply contract for furnace parts for a PDVSA joint venture, were made public after some oil-service companies pulled back from Venezuela, writing off billions of dollars in assets.
La Rosa is leaving Brazil just as Chevron begins to flex its muscle in Latin America's largest crude oil producer. In a consortium with Petrobras and Royal Dutch Shell Plc , Chevron clinched its first block in Brazil's coveted offshore pre-salt oil play on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear who will run Chevron's Brazil operations.
Reuters reported in December that Chevron was in talks with oil services firm Schlumberger NV to resume drilling in an offshore field after a 2011 oil spill there cut production.
Chevron, the world's seventh-largest publicly traded oil producer, with 2017 revenue of $135 billion, operates in Venezuela mostly through minority stakes in five projects. Its earnings from Venezuela dropped 18 percent last year to $329 million, according to regulatory filings.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper in Rio de Janeiro and Marianna Parraga in Houston; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- ExxonMobil Racks Up Discoveries in Guyana Block Eyed by Chevron
- Oil Market Sentiment Has Improved Significantly
- EU, US Eye Collaboration on Nuclear Materials
- USA Driving Activity to Increase to All-Time Highs
- EU Electricity Export to Ukraine Up 94 Percent in Two Years
- China Coal Output Falls for First Time since Government Ordered More
- TC Energy to Sell Prince Rupert Gas Pipeline Project to First Nation
- BP Pulse Buys One of Europe's Largest Truck Stops
- UK CCUS Plans Outdated: Think Tank
- I Squared Eyes Full Ownership of Europe Gas Storage Firm
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension