Venezuela stops oil shipments to two US refineries

All Venezuelan oil shipments to US refineries Sweeney and Chalmette have been discontinued, in keeping with an output cut agreed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), reported on Friday Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramírez. Some days earlier, state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) disclosed that the standard supplies to both facilities had been curtailed, according to Reuters. Ramírez added that the OPEC could call an emergency meeting due to lingering sagging prices. He reasoned that there is apparently oversupply of crude oil in the market and oil inventories are very high. As a result, Venezuela could be willing to continue with the cut policy. The senior official noted that Lyondell, the third largest petrochemical company in the world, owes Pdvsa USD 230 million. The week ending Friday 16th, the firm filed for bankruptcy.