Venezuela's PDVSA reaches deal to operate Curacao refinery for another year

December 02, 2019 10:41 AM
WILLEMSTAD / CARACA - Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA will operate Curacao’s 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery for up to a year more, a spokesman for Curacao’s state refining company, Refineria di Koursou (RdK), said on Sunday.
 
PDVSA’s contract to operate the refinery was set to expire at the end of this year. The spokesman described the agreement as a “transition” measure as RdK continued efforts to find a new operator.
 
RdK said in September that it had opened exclusive talks with industrial commodities conglomerate Klesch Group to operate the refinery.
 
RdK said at the time that a definitive agreement would be reached by the end of November. Talks with Klesch are ongoing, the spokesman said.
 
Leaving Isla would be a further blow to PDVSA which has seen its crude output plunge by more than half since 2016 due to underinvestment and mismanagement, and more recently due to U.S. sanctions intended to force out Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
 
PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo, also Venezuela’s oil minister, visited Curacao in July to discuss the possibility of the company staying on to operate the refinery.
 
RdK officials met with Quevedo in Caracas on Saturday to discuss the transition arrangement, the company said in a statement, adding that the parties discussed the possibility of doing maintenance work on the refinery.
 
Neither PDVSA nor Venezuela’s oil ministry immediately responded to requests for comment.
 
In May, the U.S. government issued a license allowing Curacao’s refinery to keep working with PDVSA through January 2020 despite the sanctions.
 
RdK said in the statement that the license allowed for an additional transition period of up to a year during which the company can generate the revenue needed to maintain refining operations and pay workers, but not turn a profit. 

Lawyer Roeland Zwanikken considers legal action against ABN AMRO Bank

May 08, 2021 6:14 PM
THE HAGUE--Attorney-at-law Roeland Zwanikken at St. Maarten’s BZSE law office is considering legal action against the intention of the Dutch ABN AMRO Bank to close the bank accounts of its clients in the Dutch Caribbean.

Fiscaal onderzoek bij notariskantoren vinden doorgang

May 07, 2021 8:04 AM
In het Antilliaans Dagblad: Fiscaal onderzoek bij notariskantoren
WILLEMSTAD – De fiscale onderzoeken bij de notarissen vonden en vinden, ondanks de beperkingen van Covid-19, weer doorgang en de medewerking aan de kant van notarissen en adviseurs is daarbij ‘over het algemeen goed’.

Juridische miljoenenstrijd tussen BNP Paribas en Italiaanse prinses verhardt

February 22, 2021 4:51 PM
  • Bezit van Italiaanse Crociani-familie op Curaçao mag van rechter worden verkocht
  • De Crociani's ruziën al jaren met BNP Paribas over een claim van $100 mln
  • Curaçaos trustkantoor United Trust heeft 'geen enkele relatie meer' met Camilla Crociani
Een Italiaanse prinses met zakelijke belangen in Nederland heeft het onderspit gedolven bij diverse rechtbanken in een langslepend conflict met zakenbank BNP Paribas.