CITGO Aruba: ConocoPhillips did not seize any of the Aruba assets

SAN NICOLAS – “"No attachment or seizure has occurred of any assets of CITGO Petroleum Corporation or CITGO Aruba Refinery.” This was the response from an official of the Aruba refinery Wednesday to NoticiaCla on the ConocoPhillips take over of varios PDVSA related properties this week. With this short statement, CITGO assured that it was not affected in any way by the ConocoPhillips actions. It was rumored over the weekend that Aruba’s CITGO facility was also affected, like Curacao and Bonaire. News agency Reuters cited sources informing that Aruba would also be affected. Curacao and Bonaire meanwhile were indeed affected and confirmed by the respective island governments. ConocoPhillips over the weekend took action as part of a way to secure 33 billion dollars in payment from Venezuelan oil company PDVSA, by confiscating either the property or/and operations, having the respective islands scramble to secure both supply of gas and electricity to the community.