Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA
is facing cash flow problems as it struggles to pay for its imports of crude
and oil products and its debt obligations balloon due to demurrage costs, Latin
America traders and shipping sources said. “It is happening with everything, crude,
gasoline, diesel, heavy naphtha, etc.,” a Latin America refined products trader
said. The company is importing products as usual but as they near Venezuela’s
ports, cargoes have to wait 10-14 days to discharge, incurring demurrage
charges, according to a trading source. Demurrage is the cost paid by a company
for keeping ships at sea after failing to load or discharge them within the
time agreed. PDVSA’s costs of demurrage increased 50.8% in dollar terms in 2015
from 2014 as a consequence of the increased cost of daily freightage, said a
source close to PDVSA. Most of the costs, 81.5%, came from crude oil ships and
the rest from oil products. More…
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