Message to INFODIO readers: investigative journalism, which is what this site does, takes lots of time and effort. Visiting media looking for a quick run down on Venezuela's gargantuan corruption, pls have the decency to at least cite the source when plagiarising this site's content without attribution (exhibit Reuters here, exhibit Bloomberg here, exhibit OCCRP here). To all readers: do the right thing, the honest thing, support independent investigative journalism. Note added 28/06/2021: impostors are using INFODIO's former editor's full name, and a fake email address (alek.boyd.arregui at gmail.com) to send copyright infringement claims / take down requests to web hosting companies. The attempt is yet another effort paid by corrupt thugs to erase information about their criminal activities. Infodio.com has no issues with other websites / journalists using / posting information published here, so long as the source is properly cited. Note added 12/06/2026: infodio.com has not created mirror websites / domains and remains totally independent and unrelated to others. Beware of websites using our brand.

pdvsa

FAKENEWS alert: PDVSA increased output

The sheer amount of #fakenews circulating is staggering. A clueless, ignorant adolescent, being "person of the year" provides just the explanation needed to grasp the sort of intellectual rigour in editorial rooms across the world. Reuters, a news agency that has plagiarised without attribution stuff published here, came yesterday with a totally unsubstantiated piece (based on "two people with knowledge of PDVSA data"), suggesting PDVSA's crude output had jumped 20%. Any person with a subscription to maritime data services can see how crude offtake has increased recently.

UPDATE 2: U.S. Justice Department v Luis Oberto Anselmi et al

SEE UPDATES BELOW | Got a Google alert this morning, about Charles Henry de Beaumont, the mega corrupt French-Swiss banker from Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique involved in multi billion dollar money laundering schemes with Luis and Ignacio Oberto Anselmi, Francisco Convit, Alejandro Betancourt, Danilo Diazgranados, Rafael Ramirez, Victor Aular Blanco, Juan Andres Wallis Brandt, etc. Curiously, when I clicked on the link, to a Miami Herald article, it led to a missing page. It does not matter.

[UPDATED] Brazil oil spill: Venezuelan Merey crude, Rosneft cargo

Reuters reported yesterday: "Brazilian investigators said on Friday a Greek-flagged ship carrying Venezuelan crude was the source of oil tarring Brazil’s coastline over the past two months..." It goes on to claim "A federal police document seen by Reuters said the tanker, Bouboulina, owned by Greece’s Delta Tankers Ltd, appears to have spilled the crude about 700 km (420 miles) off Brazil’s coast around July 28-29,

Norway's Equinor gets OFAC license, to clean oil spill in Venezuela

Little advertised, and less reported about, we were informed that Norway's Equinor got an OFAC license on June 7, 2019, for "clean-up or remediation, ordinarily incident and necessary to facilitate the clean-up and remediation of the Petrocedeno Production Oil spill site, including affected surface areas, adjacent lands, and areas of the Morichal San Antonio Creek, as described in the Application." [bod added]

PDVSA Turkish imports: MCC Petroleum partner Grupo IVEEX sold to Erhan Kap

Via a very kind collaborator and Istanbul resident, this site has learned of yet another twist on the topic of gasoline and naphta Turkish imports destined to keep PDVSA running: Grupo IVEEX, the shell controlled by Miguel Silva Perez used in the two-month contract with MCC Petroleum, was sold for 10,000 Turkish lira to tourists-guide Erhan Kap about one month ago.

[UPDATED] Breaking: PDVSA directing receivables payments to Dubai banks

Sources have informed this site that PDVSA is asking its clients to settle receivables into two Dubai banks, Emirates NBD and Mashreq Bank. Accounts are allegedly controlled by MCC Petroleum, an oil service provider active in "Iraq, UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia", as per a company's profile. MCC Petroleum claims to have a regional office in Houston.