Business News Venezuela

CARACAS, June 12- Venezuela is releasing new bank notes for the second time in less than a year, the central bank said on Wednesday, after hyperinflation eroded the effects of an August 2018 monetary overhaul meant to improve availability of cash. The largest of those bank notes, equivalent to about US $8, is more than the minimum wage of 40,000 bolivars per month.

June 11- 3 M Co said on Tuesday it would incur a pretax charge of about $160 million, or 27 cents per share, in the second quarter, as the company suspended local operations in Venezuela.

LONDON, June 11- BP has raised estimates for Saudi Arabia's crude oil reserves by 12%, marking the first major change to the country's estimated reserves since 1989.. BP said Saudi Arabia's proved oil reserves were revised to 297.7 billion barrels at the end of 2018 from 266.2 billion a year earlier, only slightly behind 303 billion in Venezuela.

LONDON, June 11- Hedge fund managers are liquidating bullish oil positions at the fastest rate since the fourth quarter of 2018 amid increasing fears about the health of the global economy. Portfolio managers still have an overall bullish position of 621 million barrels but that has been reduced sharply from a peak of 911 million on April 23.

CARACAS, June 11- At about 2 a.m. on March 21, eight Venezuelan intelligence agents drove to the home of the top advisor to opposition leader Juan Guaido and broke down the door. The reports accused Marrero of smuggling guns and explosives from Colombia and posting social media messages that prosecutors would later call treason. In April, Padilla was sanctioned by...

CARACAS, June 10- Venezuela's annual inflation dropped below 1 million percent in May for the first time since 2018, the opposition-run congress said on Monday, the result of the central bank restricting the domestic money supply. The result is that the banking system has less capacity to lend, said legislator Angel Alvarado in an interview, which will further...

Mexico typically buys as much as $1 billion worth of financial positions to protect its revenues from oil sales for the coming year against price fluctuation. By early May, Mexico is usually at least sounding out banks, attempting to discreetly secure the best price using financial instruments such as put options, which give the holder the right to sell oil at a...

HOUSTON/ MEXICO CITY, June 7- The Trump administration's clashes with Mexico could further squeeze U.S. imports of critical heavy crude oil from Latin America, which have fallen to their lowest in nearly three decades following sanctions on Venezuela, U.S. government and Refinitiv Eikon data shows. The United States relies on heavy crude to blend with lighter...

NEW YORK, June 7- Oil prices rose on Friday, climbing further from five-month lows hit this week, after Saudi Arabia said OPEC was close to agreeing to extend an output production cut beyond June. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told a conference in Russia that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies should extend oil...

June 7- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd said on Friday the Trump administration's ban on cruises to Cuba would hit its full year earnings. The new restrictions on U.S. travel to the Caribbean island are aimed at pressuring the country's Communist government to reform and stop supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Norwegian said, among other...

Venezuela is in the midst of a years-long economic and humanitarian crisis that has deepened since the United States imposed sanctions on the country's oil industry in January as part of an effort to oust Socialist President Nicolas Maduro in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido. At the end of May, nearly 47,000 65- kg bags of cocoa from Venezuela worth an...

CARACAS, June 6- Citibank and Deutsche Bank have taken control of around $1.4 billion of Venezuelan government gold, which they received as guarantees for loans, as a result of U.S. sanctions on the Venezuelan Central Bank, according to five sources. Five sources with knowledge of the deals said the BCV had agreed with Citibank and Deutsche Bank to buy back the gold...

ST PETERSBURG, June 6- President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia had differences with OPEC over what constituted a fair price for oil, but that Moscow would take a joint decision on output with OPEC colleagues at a policy meeting in the coming weeks. Russia joined the efforts with the OPEC in 2016 and their cooperation has helped to stabilise oil pieces and...

MOSCOW, June 6- President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia had differences with OPEC over what constituted a fair price for oil, but that Moscow would take a joint decision on output with OPEC colleagues at a policy meeting in the coming weeks. Putin said a price of $60- $65 a barrel suited Moscow, while Saudi Arabia wanted a higher price. He added that the...

NEW YORK, June 6- The United States may now be the world's biggest crude producer, but the oil being produced in its prolific Permian basin is increasingly too light in density for domestic refiners or for exports, eroding prices for these orphan barrels. Over the past year, production from the Permian in West Texas and New Mexico has changed, with more super-light...