On December 19, 2023, during a 3-hour press conference, RdK (Refineria di Kòrsou) in conjunction with the Government of Curaçao announced that RdK had reached an agreement with PDVSA, settling a claim outside of court. PDVSA agreed to make a payment of 450 million dollars to settle outstanding debts, along with an additional 21 million dollars in additional contribution that PDVSA owed RdK through Refineria Isla Curazao BV, a subsidiary of PDVSA. Refineria Isla Curazao BV operated the refinery in Schottegat, owned by RdK, and the bunkering facilities in Bullenbaai (COT). 

During this press conference, the Curaçao government, represented by Prime Minister Pisas, took the opportunity to embark on a political roadshow, emphasizing that this achievement had secured a new operator for the Curaçao refinery. 

It's important to note that the press conference was not entirely accurate in portraying the situation, considering it was intended to announce that RdK and PDVSA had reached a settlement on a longstanding claim that had been pending for years between the two companies. 

Let's analyze the events: 

The contract between RdK and PDVSA had a maturity date of December 31, 2019. After this, PDVSA, seeking an extension, was not in a financial position to continue the refinery's operation or fulfill pending commitments with RdK. We recall that former Prime Minister Whiteman had, in the past, gone to Venezuela to ask Mr. Hugo Chavez to continue PDVSA's operations in Curaçao. Mr. Whiteman stayed like a puppet in the corridor of Palacio Miraflores until he returned disappointed to Curaçao because he considered the treatment he received in Venezuela as a lack of respect. 

RdK terminated the contract with PDVSA on December 30, 2019, one day before the contract's maturity on December 31, 2019. According to the "lease contract" between RdK and PDVSA, RdK could have appealed a claim of $100 million at that time, as the refinery had already been shut down for 18 months because PDVSA was no longer operating it. At that time, PDVSA owed not only RdK but also BOPEC in Bonaire for services provided to PDVSA, which PDVSA could not pay. 

In addition to this, PDVSA owed "storage fees," "take-or-pay remittances," overdue maintenance expenses at our refinery facilities, payments to workers, payments to pensioners, and damage to our environment. All of these together amounted, according to an initial claim by RdK against PDVSA, to $1.2 billion. The process to demand payment from PDVSA for these began under the former direction of RdK, with Mr. Marcelino de Lannoy as the head, and besides, the previous management was working to establish other debts that possibly would have amounted to a much higher figure. 

This case has been going on for years since 2019 behind the scenes, prepared by FTI Consulting (Washington DC) on RdK's instructions. Initially, it started with a filing in the Court in The Hague (Netherlands), and at the beginning of this year, in the week of February 2, 2023, there was an arbitration case in the Court in Switzerland. Later, a case was filed in the New York Court, which began on June 13, 2023, and concluded on December 20, 2023, after RdK itself withdrew the claim in the New York Court one day after the press conference on December 19, 2023. I have this document in my possession along with the entire dossier of the case in the New York Court. 

As of today, PDVSA is not in a position to pay its debts because it does not have the money to do so. Therefore, the payment of its debts in this case to RdK has to take place with crude oil, not in one go, but over 10 years!! Mind you!!! In addition to this, PDVSA has also indicated that it will pay an extra compensation of 21 million dollars in the form of crude oil to the widows and orphans. 

Although we know that PDVSA also had a counterclaim against RdK for the malfunctioning of the BOO power plant on the refinery's premises, which was supposed to produce water, electricity, and steam for the refinery, the following questions arise. Normally, when someone pays their debt in one go, they can offer a discount if they negotiate this. In this case, payment is not made in one go, not with money, but in the form of a product. And, in the same way, it provides a discount. 

a. Can the government explain by what authority those involved agreed to a discount of more than 55% of the initial amount and settled for accepting only 450 million dollars as payment for a debt that was initially over 1.2 billion dollars? 

b. Can the government explain by what authority those involved waited for the debt to be paid in crude oil instead of cash? 

c. Can the government explain by what authority those involved agreed to receive the payment over 10 years instead of in one go? 

Based on these questions, it can be deduced that the RdK director did not act in the interest of RdK and the people of Curaçao. 

d. Did the RdK director request authorization from the RvC (Board of Commissioners) to grant this discount? 

e. Considering the magnitude of these decisions, did the RdK director consult with representatives of the shareholders before making these decisions? 

f. Did the representative of the shareholders consult with Parliament to grant this discount? 

g. Based on what calculations did they reach the conclusion that a discount of more than 55% from the initial amount of 1.2+ billion dollars is appropriate? 

h. How will the conversion of this 6 million barrels of crude oil into cash be carried out? 

i. Will brokers be involved in selling the crude oil in exchange for a commission? 

A small calculation indicates that based on the information provided during the press conference, 450 million dollars will be paid over 10 years in the form of 6 million (6,000,000) barrels of crude oil over 10 years, which is 600,000 barrels of crude oil per year. 

It's 600,000 divided by 365 days = 1,644 barrels per day. This quantity is not even enough to run an asphalt plant like Global Oil Management Group plans to operate in Curaçao. The intention is for Global Oil to start asphalt processing in May 2024. But until now, things seem questionable. 

Our refinery, in good times, processes 355,000 barrels of crude oil PER DAY!!!! 

Now let me quickly address the unfortunate climax at the end of the year, which was the news that PDVSA would be the new operator of our refinery and the supposed gas pipeline between Venezuela and Curaçao. 

Aside from the fact that the only official notice from PDVSA on December 19, 2023, regarding the debt settlement before the court between RdK and PDVSA in my possession mentions absolutely nothing about a gas pipeline, only about the possibility of PDVSA conducting a feasibility study to see if it's possible for PDVSA to store its products in tanks in Curaçao and provide technical and operational assistance to strengthen the refinery. 

So, there's absolutely nothing concrete about PDVSA being the operator of the Curaçao refinery and by what date?????? 

The only entity at the moment that has seriously shown interest in operating the refinery and the terminal at Bullenbaai is Oryx Petroleum Limited, with which RdK signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on October 22, 2023, with Qatari Gannim Bin Saad. For this, Oryx is currently undergoing due diligence in the first phase conducted by Maunsell Investment Management (Vancouver, Canada), assisted by AEF BV (Willemstad, Curaçao), to determine that Oryx needs to raise at least 750 million to 1.1 billion dollars to even begin making the refinery operational. They talked about completely dismantling the BOO energy center and parts of the refinery to build an LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant. Money that PDVSA currently absolutely does not have, considering they don't even have 450 million dollars to pay. 

Let's see how PDVSA will fulfill its commitment over the next 10 years with the 6 million barrels. Life's lesson teaches us that hoping for a solution that can be resolved in one go is a reason to hope for a miracle. Especially considering PDVSA's long track record of non-compliance. 

This deal is only beneficial for PDVSA, not Curaçao. 

“When you sleep with the devil, expect bad times. Time will tell” 

Luigi Faneyte