Sanctions

Venezuelan PDVSA moves HQ to Moscow to 'safeguard oil assets against seizure'

Venezuela’s state-run energy giant PDVSA will relocate its European office to the Russian capital because of high risks of potential confiscation of oil revenues amid US sanctions against the country’s energy sector.

“Venezuela is worried about further sanctions and asset seizures of PDVSA,” Mehmet Ogutcu, chair of the Bosphorus Energy Club, told RT. “Hence the decision to relocate its European headquarters to Russia so that the assets could not be risked.”

According to the expert, the Venezuelan government is struggling to find new buyers for heavy crude, which had been previously sold to US refineries. The US purchased around 500,000 barrels oil per day from Venezuela before Washington introduced economic penalties against PDVSA, freezing $7 billion of the company’s assets.