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TSLA) was hit by a bear note from Morgan Stanley after the stock hit an all-time high of $547. Tesla shares have since stabilized as investors are convinced of the Model 3 "s growing margin profile. Wall Street's bullishness was tempered after Tesla was deemed to have forgotten to write black numbers and used accounting tricks to get back into the black. While Tesla has seen a marked rise in prices and is outperforming BTC, some have become bearish in recent days.CEO Catherine Wood told CNBC that the rise in Tesla shares on Thursday was due to the Model 3 production ramp-up - and not the stock itself. Tesla shares have seen a "significant rise" in the past week, according to Morgan Stanley, which holds a sizeable stake in the electric car maker. As Tesla shares soared 17% to $298 per share in afternoon trading, those who kept the shares short and bet that they would sink lost an estimated $1.4 billion.CEO Elon Musk is the company's largest shareholder, and Monday's gains have pushed his net worth to $39.3 billion. Including the $2.5 billion that Tesla's short sellers lost on Monday, investors who bet against the electric car maker now total $8.3 billion, according to Morgan Stanley. Tesla has struggled with questions about whether it could be profitable, but the stock rebounded on Thursday after hitting an all-time high of more than $300 a share and reporting profits for the third and fourth quarters.Millennials flocked to Tesla shares after the company announced a $1.5 billion investment by Tencent Holdings Ltd in December, and the exuberance resumed when the stock rose 20 percent on Monday. Last week, stock markets succumbed to fears of deadly coronavirus outbreaks and Tesla has until January 3, 2020, to recover. Tencent is investing $150 million in Reddit, which would make it one of the world's largest social media companies, which already includes Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube.Tesla shares got a boost in early January when the company reported fourth-quarter deliveries and soared 110% to a record high of $917 on Wednesday. Chief executive Elon Musk set aside $346 million in stock gains, while Tesla shares continued to reap big gains. Tesla shares fell to a new 52-week low on Friday, falling 6% after Elon Musk cut the price of its older models.Tesla shares also slipped more than 4% on Thursday intraday and tanked more than 10% on Friday, while the rest of the stock market retreated. Considering that Tesla's stock rose nearly $1,000 to $500 in less than ten days last week, it has now halved those losses. If Tesla's share price were actually what it could do, which now looks more like how it is doing than what the market currently seems to be doing, then it seems unlikely that share prices would be that high - high. Despite record trading and a market capitalization close to $141 billion.Analysts find that baffling, if not crazy. Tesla shares closed at $581, which was an all-time high until yesterday. The stock fell after Tesla said there would be production delays because of the shit in China, but the stock soared again on Friday, soaring to nearly $900 and closing at a new record high before trading was halted for more than an hour.Tesla shares enjoyed a historic rally that stunned many investors and analysts before plummeting nearly 20 percent. CEO Elon Musk sipped whiskey and smoked weed, while CNBC reported that his electric car company has gained up to 20% following the fatal crash of a Tesla Model S in Florida. TSLA shares fell after it was revealed that the brand's autopilot was in use at the time of the fatal crash. Two senior managers abruptly announced that they were leaving the company.Figures from the CBOE, which tracked the Tesla stock (TSLA) versus Bitcoin on February 4, 2020. Tesla shares remained volatile after the deadly crash, initially falling and then recovering, but then losing ground. The electric car maker has had to halt production of its Model S and Model X electric cars due to concerns about a coronavirus outbreak, according to a Bloomberg report. Tesla shares soared 20% last week, driven by quarterly profits from Panasonic's battery business. It is currently more than 50% higher than the previous month.Tesla (TSLA) shares fell to a new two-year low last week as the entire market came under pressure following the latest developments in the ongoing US-China trade war. Tesla is now more than 50% off its all-time high in the YTD Tesla stock combined, which seems headed for the company's junkyard. The manufacturer of electric cars and solar modules intends to use the proceeds to strengthen its battery storage business.Short-sellers typically borrow shares from a bank and sell them when the stock falls so they can profit from the difference. The share price then tends higher, forcing the short seller to take a loss if it buys the shares at a higher price. Investors betting against Tesla's stock have lost a lot of money in recent weeks, including $2.5 billion on Monday alone. We expect Tesla to benefit from this and improve its performance by 2020, "Argus Research said on Monday.

Allen W. McDonnell, gave a excellent answer;I will add some more serious issues from today ; VenezuelaCuracao court authorises US oil giant to seize Venezuelan oil assetsMonday, May 14, 2018A warning sign stands at the entrance of the PDVSA/BOPEC Brasil Terminal in Rincon Bonaire on the Caribbean Netherlands island of Bonaire, Monday, May 7, 2018, where Venezuela refines and stores its heavy crude. (Photo: AP)WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — A court on the Dutch island of Curacao has authorised the local subsidiary of US oil giant ConocoPhillips to seize US$636 million worth of assets held on the island by Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.The move comes as Houston-based Conoco seeks to recover US$2 billion in a decade-old dispute over the expropriation of its Venezuelan oil projects by the OPEC nation's socialist government, which is struggling with an economic crunch that has caused widespread shortages of food and medicine.Curacao Economy Minister Steve Martina said at a news conference Sunday that Conoco already had taken control of some oil products at the Isla Curazao refinery, though he did not specify how much.The Curacao court's ruling of May 4 is a blow to Venezuela, which uses refineries on Curacao and elsewhere in the Netherlands Antilles to store a significant portion of the oil it exports to its three main foreign markets — China, the US and India.According to the ruling reviewed Sunday by The Associated Press, the company can seize all oil products stored at the Isla Curazao and the Di Korsou refineries on Curacao. The court also said Conoco can take over any crude oil shipments en route from Venezuela to the island that are within 19 kilometres (12 miles) of the Curacao coast.Venezuela holds the world's largest underground oil reserves but production has declined under nearly two decades of socialist leadership, casting the once-wealthy nation deep into political and economic crisis.An arbitration panel under the International Chamber of Commerce in late April found that Venezuela under the leadership of then-President Hugo Chavez in 2007 illegally expropriated joint venture operations with ConocoPhillips.Conoco has seized Venezuela PDVSA products from Isla refinery: Curacao(Reuters) -U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips (COP.N) has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao, an island official told Reuters on Sunday.A general view shows the Isla refinery in Willemstad on the island of Curacao, April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Andres Martinez CasaresConoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.“PDVSA products from the installations of the Isla refinery have been confiscated. We don’t have any way to get them,” said Steven Martina, Curacao’s minister for economic development, who did not provide the amount or value of the seized products.Conoco and PDVSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Martina added that Curacao was planning to meet with PDVSA and Conoco this week to discuss the dispute that has led Conoco to seize Venezuelan assets in the Caribbean, wreaking havoc on PDVSA’s export chain.The dispute has also caused worry on Curacao, a constituent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands with a vibrant tourism industry and deep-water ports used by the oil industry. The island is heavily dependent on the refinery, which provides as much as 10 percent of Curacao’s gross domestic product and is a big source of employment on the island just off Venezuela.ConocoPhillips69.44COP.NNEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE+0.10(+0.14%)COP.N“There is no need to be alarmed, fuel and services are guaranteed,” Curacao’s Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said in a news conference on Sunday. He added that lawyers are also contacting Conoco to “reach a deal and negotiate.”PDVSA is preparing to shut a Caribbean refinery that is running out of crude amid threats by Conoco to seize cargoes sent to resupply the facility, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday.But Martina said the 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery was still operating, albeit at low levels, thanks to Curacao’s reserves.GRAPHIC - A list of PDVSA's key Caribbean assets:tmsnrt.rs/2wnEQVSReporting by Sailu Urribarri; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Lisa Shumaker'No one wants to be last in line.' Seizure of Venezuela oil assets may start wave.The decision by ConocoPhillips to seize the Caribbean assets of PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, has established a dangerous legal precedent that could swamp the South American country's already impoverished oil monopoly under a wave of similar claims and cut deeply into its ability to operate, experts said.The decision, which came amid the accelerating deterioration of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.'s production capacity, could lead creditors to try to seize other Venezuelan assets abroad, including oil exports, to recover the more than $40 billion they claim they are owed.“Creditors are now saying to themselves, 'Look, we now have confirmation that you can go out and embargo PDVSA,' and many of them are going to rush into court to ask for their own seizures,” said Antonio De La Cruz, executive director of Inter American Trends in Washington, D.C.“We are at the start of a snowball” rolling downhill, added Russ Dallen, managing partner of Caracas Capital Markets, an investment bank in Miami. “Now that people have started to file lawsuits, we are going to see a run because no one wants to be the last in line.”The U.S. oil company was able to obtain injunctions freezing the assets after winning its case against PDVSA at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ruled that the state-run company had to pay ConocoPhillips $2 billion for the government's 2007 nationalization of its projects in Venezuela. The country has been suffering under shortages of food and medicine as the economy has continued to spiral.Until recently, many creditors had been turning a blind eye to the fact that Venezuela was technically in default on its debts because the regime of President Nicolás Maduro was hinting that he meant to pay, even if late.But the game changed with ConocoPhillips.“Because it will be so difficult for all these people to be paid what they are owed — especially because there are so many creditors, a huge debt and few assets available — I fear this is going to set off a domino effect, a great nervousness in the markets, and that overnight we will see a significant increase in this type of legal action,” said Diego Moya-Ocampo, London-based Americas analyst for IHS Markit.The Canadian mining company Rusoro filed a lawsuit this week in Houston seeking to seize the assets of Citgo, the U.S. branch of PDVSA, which, if approved, would be a devastating blow to Venezuela's oil future, Dallen said.The key factor in that case will be a ruling on whether Citgo and PDVSA are legally the same as the Venezuelan government, which would open the doors to lawsuits by holders of expired Venezuelan government bonds.“I think Rusoro probably decided to act when it saw how ConocoPhillips jumped in line, ahead of other creditors, and started to embargo assets in the Caribbean, taking control of [oil] terminals and storage facilities,” said Dallen.Rusoro is seeking $1.3 billion as payment for the expropriation of its gold mining operations in Venezuela.In another hint of what may be coming, a former PDVSA supplier, White Beech SNC LLC, filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against PDVSA for the company's failure to meet payment obligations on a PDVSA $25 million bond issue.Court documents allege the state oil monopoly defaulted on the 6.5 percent bond on Jan. 4, when it failed to pay $3.5 million due for interest and capital amortization.The possibility that PDVSA could soon face a wave of creditors filing seizure lawsuits around the world could significantly impact the company's ability to export crude.Venezuela, where oil production already has fallen from 3.4 million to 1.4 million barrels per day since the late Hugo Chávez was first elected president in 1999, could see its sales plummet by up to 700,000 barrels per day if multiple creditors file lawsuits, dealing a powerful blow to the Maduro regime's revenues, according to experts.“The situation is rapidly becoming more complicated. It's getting increasingly difficult,” said Miami oil expert Horacio Medina, explaining the risks that PDVSA could face if creditors start to seize its oil shipments to other countries such as the United States.That could also impact PDVSA's use of its own tankers — which could be seized — and force the company to contract with other shippers, already reluctant to work in Venezuela because of the country's inability to pay its debts.The ConocoPhillips seizure also signals a problem for the company because it puts at risk the heavy crude it stores in the Caribbean in order to mix it with light crude imported from other countries. The mix has been critical to improving the quality of Venezuelan oil so it can be exported.The seizure means PDVSA can no longer use those plants to mix the crude.The Reuters news agency has reported PDVSA last year sold more than 400,000 barrels per day of crude and refined products from five plants it owns or leases on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Eustatius. That amounted to about 24 percent of PDVSA's overall exports.ut the biggest blow would come if creditors are allowed to seize Citgo assets, Medina warned.An eventual loss of Citgo would be devastating for the country's oil future, even after Maduro's departure,” he said. “Citgo is the industry's biggest hope because the company guarantees access to the U.S. market, which is fundamental to the eventual economic reactivation of Venezuela.”Venezuela's Maduro threatens 'armed revolution' ahead of May 20 electionVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is warning that he’ll take up arms and lead a revolution if a government comes into power that wants to hand the country’s "riches" to “imperialist” forces. @NicolasMaduroIn this Feb. 18, 2015 photo, storage tanks stand in a PDVSA state-run oil company crude oil complex near El Tigre, a town located within Venezuela's Hugo Chávez oil belt, formally known as the Orinoco Belt. Fernando Llano APOil Seizure Aggravates Venezuela-Curaçao TensionsConoco authorized to seize US$636 million in Venezuela PDVSA assets: Curacao courtRead more at Conoco authorized to seize US$636 million in Venezuela PDVSA assets: Curacao courtExclusive: Conoco moves to take over Venezuelan PDVSA's Caribbean assets - sourcesRead more at Exclusive: Conoco moves to take over Venezuelan PDVSA's Caribbean assets - sourcesU.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a US$2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions.07 May 2018 02:15AM (Updated: 07 May 2018 10:15AM)HOUSTON/CARACAS: U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a US$2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions.The U.S. firm targeted facilities on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius that accounted for about a quarter of Venezuela's oil exports last year. The three play key roles in processing, storing and blending PDVSA's oil for export.CARACAS, (Reuters) - A legal dispute between ConocoPhillips and Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA could leave Curacao's economically important Isla refinery without crude oil to process, posing a "potential crisis" for the Caribbean island, Curacao's prime minister said.Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets.The operations of the 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery, which provides as much as 10 percent of Curacao's gross domestic product, could be left without crude supplies if PDVSA halts all oil shipments to prevent them from being seized, Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said in a telephone interview."We are aware of the potential risks for the operation of the refinery," Rhuggenaath said. "A stoppage of the operation would have a devastating impact economically and socially."PDVSA has already suspended oil storage and shipping from its Caribbean facilities, according to a PDVSA source and Reuters data.Curacao, a small island off the coast of Venezuela, is prepared to purchase refined products on the global market to ensure it can maintain supplies for the local population as well as for shipping."This is indeed a potential crisis that can very profoundly affect the social and economic situation of our island, and therefore we are always willing to discuss and reach out to relevant parties," Rhuggenaath said.He said Conoco has yet to seize any assets. Curacao is still scrutinizing a lien - a legal instrument that paves the way for an asset seizure - because the government's legal counsel does not fully understand it, he said.Conoco is also seeking to seize assets on the nearby island of Bonaire, where PDVSA owns a storage terminal. In contrast, Isla is owned by Curacao state-run firms and is leased to PDVSA."This is a different situation than in Bonaire," said the prime minister.Neither PDVSA nor Conoco has contacted Curacao authorities regarding how the legal dispute could affect the island, according to Rhuggenaath.ConocoPhillips said it has sought to resolve issues caused by its efforts to collect the arbitration award."We have been in touch with the local officials and are working to address their concerns," spokesman Daren Beaudo said. "As we said previously, we will work with the community and local authorities to address issues that may arise as a result of enforcement actions."PDVSA did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.Curacao is a constituent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands, with a vibrant tourism industry and deep-water ports used by the oil industry.During the oil boom years, Venezuelans flooded the island to shop and vacation. But the OPEC nation's calamitous economic decline in recent years has turned Curacao and neighboring islands into havens for migrants seeking escape from hunger and disease. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Corina Pons Additional reporting by Tibisay Romero in Valencia and Gary McWilliams in Houston Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Leslie Adler)Read more atExclusive: Conoco moves to take over Venezuelan PDVSA's Caribbean assets - sourcesWILLEMSTAD - The seizure of a crude cargo in Curacao's Bullen Bay terminal has further aggravated tensions between Venezuela and Dutch Caribbean islands that have long provided refining and logistical support to Venezuela's beleaguered state oil industry. This is according to a report by Home | Argus Media.The Panama-flagged Proteo was detained by as-yet unknown private parties after it loaded a cargo and tried to leave the terminal, according to an official at Bullen Bay. The Proteo is an Aframax tanker with a capacity of about 600,000-700,000 bl.The seizure, for which details remain sketchy, is related to Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA’s myriad of overdue debts. A Curaçao government official told Argus the incident is a private commercial matter."This has to do with PDVSA’s commercial arrangements, and reflects the company's financial problems," the official said. "We are not involved in these matters, but we are concerned that this — and other and similar developments — could affect the operations of the Isla refinery that is important to our economy."The tanker incident coincides with a broader souring of relations between Caracas and the islands of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire.On 5 January the Venezuelan government announced a 72-hour closure of air and sea links with the islands, and later said the closure would be indefinite until the islands' authorities tamp down on smuggling of Venezuelan goods, including minerals.A lasting break in commercial ties would damage the economies of the islands that rely on revenue from PDVSA’s current and planned involvement in oil refining, bunkering and storage.A Dutch interior ministry spokesman told the news agency that specializes in the oil sector that a meeting will be held in Aruba this Friday with officials from the islands and Venezuela to try to diffuse tensions. Currently visiting the region is Raymond Knops, the Dutch minister in charge of relations with the islands.In the latest in this sad drama, it was reported that a Venezuelan oil tanker was seized at a port in the Dutch-controlled island Curacao earlier this month, and is being held by the Dutch authorities over failure to pay off debts owed to Panamanian shipping companies to tune of $30 million.This is not the first time Venezuelan oil tankers have been held over the Venezuelan government’s failure to pay off loans on behalf of their state owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) and/or the central government.Just last year April another Venezuelan oil tanker was stopped in the Dutch controlled island of St Maarten for failure to pay debts owed to a Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate, Sovcomflot, with hopes of the Russian firm collecting partial payment on a $30 million debt that it claims PdVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees.Going back further to January 2017, more than four million barrels of oil spread between 11 vessels were held up between Venezuela and Curacao due to Venezuela’s failure to pay ship-cleaning fees, as well as a failure to meet international shipping and safety clearances from several maintenance and cleaning businesses in the maritime industry due to the fact that they either owed the said companies and/or the vessels being held were deemed unfit for transport.The trend here is becoming obvious: The Venezuelan government does not pay its bills, and possibly cannot pay its bills even if it wanted to, so their largest economic driver, petroleum products, is suffering from tremendous financial and economic distress.Even worse above all of this is that the issues are creating further tensions between the Dutch and their Caribbean territories known as the “ABC” islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, in addition to Dutch St Maarten.The latest wave of allegations stemming from the Dutch against Venezuela along with the oil crisis, reported widely in the Netherlands and their other Caribbean territories, is the alleged smuggling of gold to the tune of several thousand kilos per month from Venezuela into Curacao.Dutch politicians have asked for a full investigation into the matter, most notably calls from Dutch parliamentarian Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP), in hopes of prompting the Dutch government to become more active in ensuring that the crisis in Venezuela does not become a larger Dutch problem.This cannot become the “norm” for relations for Venezuela with the rest of the world. If it wasn’t for the fact that that international sanctions were bad enough, President Maduro seems to be digging his heels in, looking for the next scheme to wrap the country’s oil reserves in order to make some quick cash.As reported by Caribbean News Now earlier this month, the opposition controlled Venezuelan parliament rejected the idea of President Maduro starting the country’s first cryptocurrency backed by oil, what officials referred to as the “Petro”.'No one wants to be last in line.' Seizure of Venezuela oil assets may start wave.Oil seizure aggravates Venezuela-Curaçao tensionsConoco has seized Venezuela PDVSA products from Isla refinery: CuracaoCuracao sees 'potential crisis' from Venezuelahttps://www.ien.com/regulation/news/21004953/curacao-court-oks-conoco-seizure-of-venezuelan-oilhttp://curacaochronicle.com/politics/pdvsa-moves-to-protect-exports-as-conoco-seizures-weigh/

Add the Venezuela Situation plus the Iran boycot and the results will be tremendiously expensive for everyone buying gasoline:Answered 8h agoAllen W. McDonnell, gave a excellent answer;I will add some more serious issues from today ; VenezuelaCuracao court authorises US oil giant to seize Venezuelan oil assetsMonday, May 14, 2018A warning sign stands at the entrance of the PDVSA/BOPEC Brasil Terminal in Rincon Bonaire on the Caribbean Netherlands island of Bonaire,Monday, May 7, 2018, where Venezuela refines and stores its heavy crude. (Photo: AP)WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — A court on the Dutch island of Curacao has authorised the local subsidiary of US oil giant ConocoPhillips to seize US$636 million worth of assets held on the island by Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.The move comes as Houston-based Conoco seeks to recover US$2 billion in a decade-old dispute over the expropriation of its Venezuelan oil projects by the OPEC nation's socialist government, which is struggling with an economic crunch that has caused widespread shortages of food and medicine.Curacao Economy Minister Steve Martina said at a news conference Sunday that Conoco already had taken control of some oil products at the Isla Curazao refinery, though he did not specify how much.The Curacao court's ruling of May 4 is a blow to Venezuela, which uses refineries on Curacao and elsewhere in the Netherlands Antilles to store a significant portion of the oil it exports to its three main foreign markets — China, the US and India.According to the ruling reviewed Sunday by The Associated Press, the company can seize all oil products stored at the Isla Curazao and the Di Korsou refineries on Curacao. The court also said Conoco can take over any crude oil shipments en route from Venezuela to the island that are within 19 kilometres (12 miles) of the Curacao coast.Venezuela holds the world's largest underground oil reserves but production has declined under nearly two decades of socialist leadership, casting the once-wealthy nation deep into political and economic crisis.An arbitration panel under the International Chamber of Commerce in late April found that Venezuela under the leadership of then-President Hugo Chavez in 2007 illegally expropriated joint venture operations with ConocoPhillips.Conoco has seized Venezuela PDVSA products from Isla refinery: Curacao(Reuters) -U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips (COP.N) has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao, an island official told Reuters on Sunday.A general view shows the Isla refinery in Willemstad on the island of Curacao,April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Andres Martinez CasaresConoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.“PDVSA products from the installations of the Isla refinery have been confiscated. We don’t have any way to get them,” said Steven Martina, Curacao’s minister for economic development, who did not provide the amount or value of the seized products.Conoco and PDVSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Martina added that Curacao was planning to meet with PDVSA and Conoco this week to discuss the dispute that has led Conoco to seize Venezuelan assets in the Caribbean, wreaking havoc on PDVSA’s export chain.The dispute has also caused worry on Curacao, a constituent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands with a vibrant tourism industry and deep-water ports used by the oil industry. The island is heavily dependent on the refinery, which provides as much as 10 percent of Curacao’s gross domestic product and is a big source of employment on the island just off Venezuela.ConocoPhillips69.44COP.NNEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE+0.10(+0.14%)COP.N“There is no need to be alarmed, fuel and services are guaranteed,” Curacao’s Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said in a news conference on Sunday. He added that lawyers are also contacting Conoco to “reach a deal and negotiate.”PDVSA is preparing to shut a Caribbean refinery that is running out of crude amid threats by Conoco to seize cargoes sent to resupply the facility, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday.But Martina said the 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery was still operating, albeit at low levels, thanks to Curacao’s reserves.GRAPHIC - A list of PDVSA's key Caribbean assets:Reporting by Sailu Urribarri; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Lisa Shumaker'No one wants to be last in line.' Seizure of Venezuela oil assets may start wave.The decision by ConocoPhillips to seize the Caribbean assets of PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, has established a dangerous legal precedent that could swamp the South American country's already impoverished oil monopoly under a wave of similar claims and cut deeply into its ability to operate, experts said.The decision, which came amid the accelerating deterioration of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.'s production capacity, could lead creditors to try to seize other Venezuelan assets abroad, including oil exports, to recover the more than $40 billion they claim they are owed.“Creditors are now saying to themselves, 'Look, we now have confirmation that you can go out and embargo PDVSA,' and many of them are going to rush into court to ask for their own seizures,” said Antonio De La Cruz, executive director of Inter American Trends in Washington, D.C.“We are at the start of a snowball” rolling downhill, added Russ Dallen, managing partner of Caracas Capital Markets, an investment bank in Miami. “Now that people have started to file lawsuits, we are going to see a run because no one wants to be the last in line.”The U.S. oil company was able to obtain injunctions freezing the assets after winning its case against PDVSA at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ruled that the state-run company had to pay ConocoPhillips $2 billion for the government's 2007 nationalization of its projects in Venezuela. The country has been suffering under shortages of food and medicine as the economy has continued to spiral.Until recently, many creditors had been turning a blind eye to the fact that Venezuela was technically in default on its debts because the regime of President Nicolás Maduro was hinting that he meant to pay, even if late.But the game changed with ConocoPhillips.“Because it will be so difficult for all these people to be paid what they are owed — especially because there are so many creditors, a huge debt and few assets available — I fear this is going to set off a domino effect, a great nervousness in the markets, and that overnight we will see a significant increase in this type of legal action,” said Diego Moya-Ocampo, London-based Americas analyst for IHS Markit.The Canadian mining company Rusoro filed a lawsuit this week in Houston seeking to seize the assets of Citgo, the U.S. branch of PDVSA, which, if approved, would be a devastating blow to Venezuela's oil future, Dallen said.The key factor in that case will be a ruling on whether Citgo and PDVSA are legally the same as the Venezuelan government, which would open the doors to lawsuits by holders of expired Venezuelan government bonds.“I think Rusoro probably decided to act when it saw how ConocoPhillips jumped in line, ahead of other creditors, and started to embargo assets in the Caribbean, taking control of [oil] terminals and storage facilities,” said Dallen.Rusoro is seeking $1.3 billion as payment for the expropriation of its gold mining operations in Venezuela.In another hint of what may be coming, a former PDVSA supplier, White Beech SNC LLC, filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against PDVSA for the company's failure to meet payment obligations on a PDVSA $25 million bond issue.Court documents allege the state oil monopoly defaulted on the 6.5 percent bond on Jan. 4, when it failed to pay $3.5 million due for interest and capital amortization.The possibility that PDVSA could soon face a wave of creditors filing seizure lawsuits around the world could significantly impact the company's ability to export crude.Venezuela, where oil production already has fallen from 3.4 million to 1.4 million barrels per day since the late Hugo Chávez was first elected president in 1999, could see its sales plummet by up to 700,000 barrels per day if multiple creditors file lawsuits, dealing a powerful blow to the Maduro regime's revenues, according to experts.“The situation is rapidly becoming more complicated. It's getting increasingly difficult,” said Miami oil expert Horacio Medina, explaining the risks that PDVSA could face if creditors start to seize its oil shipments to other countries such as the United States.That could also impact PDVSA's use of its own tankers — which could be seized — and force the company to contract with other shippers, already reluctant to work in Venezuela because of the country's inability to pay its debts.The ConocoPhillips seizure also signals a problem for the company because it puts at risk the heavy crude it stores in the Caribbean in order to mix it with light crude imported from other countries. The mix has been critical to improving the quality of Venezuelan oil so it can be exported.The seizure means PDVSA can no longer use those plants to mix the crude.The Reuters news agency has reported PDVSA last year sold more than 400,000 barrels per day of crude and refined products from five plants it owns or leases on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Eustatius. That amounted to about 24 percent of PDVSA's overall exports.ut the biggest blow would come if creditors are allowed to seize Citgo assets, Medina warned. An eventual loss of Citgo would be devastating for the country's oil future, even after Maduro's departure,” he said. “Citgo is the industry's biggest hope because the company guarantees access to the U.S. market, which is fundamental to the eventual economic reactivation of Venezuela.”Venezuela's Maduro threatens 'armed revolution' ahead of May 20 electionVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is warning that he’ll take up arms and lead a revolution if a government comes into power that wants to hand the country’s "riches" to “imperialist” forces. @NicolasMaduroIn this Feb. 18, 2015Storage tanks stand in a PDVSA state-run oil company crude oil complex near El Tigre, a town located within Venezuela's Hugo Chávez oil belt, formally known as the Orinoco Belt.Fernando Llano APOil Seizure Aggravates Venezuela-Curaçao TensionsConoco authorized to seize US$636 million in Venezuela PDVSA assets: Curacao courtRead more at Conoco authorized to seize US$636 million in Venezuela PDVSA assets: Curacao courtExclusive: Conoco moves to take over Venezuelan PDVSA's Caribbean assets - sourcesRead more at Exclusive: Conoco moves to take over Venezuelan PDVSA's Caribbean assets - sourcesU.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a US$2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions.07 May 2018 02:15AM (Updated: 07 May 2018 10:15AM)HOUSTON/CARACAS: U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a US$2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions.The U.S. firm targeted facilities on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius that accounted for about a quarter of Venezuela's oil exports last year. The three play key roles in processing, storing and blending PDVSA's oil for export.CARACAS, (Reuters) - A legal dispute between ConocoPhillips and Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA could leave Curacao's economically important Isla refinery without crude oil to process, posing a "potential crisis" for the Caribbean island, Curacao's prime minister said.Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets.The operations of the 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery, which provides as much as 10 percent of Curacao's gross domestic product, could be left without crude supplies if PDVSA halts all oil shipments to prevent them from being seized, Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said in a telephone interview."We are aware of the potential risks for the operation of the refinery," Rhuggenaath said. "A stoppage of the operation would have a devastating impact economically and socially."PDVSA has already suspended oil storage and shipping from its Caribbean facilities, according to a PDVSA source and Reuters data.Curacao, a small island off the coast of Venezuela, is prepared to purchase refined products on the global market to ensure it can maintain supplies for the local population as well as for shipping."This is indeed a potential crisis that can very profoundly affect the social and economic situation of our island, and therefore we are always willing to discuss and reach out to relevant parties," Rhuggenaath said.He said Conoco has yet to seize any assets. Curacao is still scrutinizing a lien - a legal instrument that paves the way for an asset seizure - because the government's legal counsel does not fully understand it, he said.Conoco is also seeking to seize assets on the nearby island of Bonaire, where PDVSA owns a storage terminal. In contrast, Isla is owned by Curacao state-run firms and is leased to PDVSA."This is a different situation than in Bonaire," said the prime minister.Neither PDVSA nor Conoco has contacted Curacao authorities regarding how the legal dispute could affect the island, according to Rhuggenaath.ConocoPhillips said it has sought to resolve issues caused by its efforts to collect the arbitration award."We have been in touch with the local officials and are working to address their concerns," spokesman Daren Beaudo said. "As we said previously, we will work with the community and local authorities to address issues that may arise as a result of enforcement actions."PDVSA did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.Curacao is a constituent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands, with a vibrant tourism industry and deep-water ports used by the oil industry.During the oil boom years, Venezuelans flooded the island to shop and vacation. But the OPEC nation's calamitous economic decline in recent years has turned Curacao and neighboring islands into havens for migrants seeking escape from hunger and disease. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Corina Pons Additional reporting by Tibisay Romero in Valencia and Gary McWilliams in Houston Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Leslie Adler)Read more atExclusive: Conoco moves to take over Venezuelan PDVSA's Caribbean assets - sourcesWILLEMSTAD - The seizure of a crude cargo in Curacao's Bullen Bay terminal has further aggravated tensions between Venezuela and Dutch Caribbean islands that have long provided refining and logistical support to Venezuela's beleaguered state oil industry. This is according to a report by Home | Argus Media.The Panama-flagged Proteo was detained by as-yet unknown private parties after it loaded a cargo and tried to leave the terminal, according to an official at Bullen Bay. The Proteo is an Aframax tanker with a capacity of about 600,000-700,000 bl.The seizure, for which details remain sketchy, is related to Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA’s myriad of overdue debts. A Curaçao government official told Argus the incident is a private commercial matter."This has to do with PDVSA’s commercial arrangements, and reflects the company's financial problems," the official said. "We are not involved in these matters, but we are concerned that this — and other and similar developments — could affect the operations of the Isla refinery that is important to our economy."The tanker incident coincides with a broader souring of relations between Caracas and the islands of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire.On 5 January the Venezuelan government announced a 72-hour closure of air and sea links with the islands, and later said the closure would be indefinite until the islands' authorities tamp down on smuggling of Venezuelan goods, including minerals.A lasting break in commercial ties would damage the economies of the islands that rely on revenue from PDVSA’s current and planned involvement in oil refining, bunkering and storage.A Dutch interior ministry spokesman told the news agency that specializes in the oil sector that a meeting will be held in Aruba this Friday with officials from the islands and Venezuela to try to diffuse tensions. Currently visiting the region is Raymond Knops, the Dutch minister in charge of relations with the http://islands.In the latest in this sad drama, it was reported that a Venezuelan oil tanker was seized at a port in the Dutch-controlled island Curacao earlier this month, and is being held by the Dutch authorities over failure to pay off debts owed to Panamanian shipping companies to tune of $30 million.This is not the first time Venezuelan oil tankers have been held over the Venezuelan government’s failure to pay off loans on behalf of their state owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) and/or the central government.Just last year April another Venezuelan oil tanker was stopped in the Dutch controlled island of St Maarten for failure to pay debts owed to a Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate, Sovcomflot, with hopes of the Russian firm collecting partial payment on a $30 million debt that it claims PdVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees.Going back further to January 2017, more than four million barrels of oil spread between 11 vessels were held up between Venezuela and Curacao due to Venezuela’s failure to pay ship-cleaning fees, as well as a failure to meet international shipping and safety clearances from several maintenance and cleaning businesses in the maritime industry due to the fact that they either owed the said companies and/or the vessels being held were deemed unfit for transport.The trend here is becoming obvious: The Venezuelan government does not pay its bills, and possibly cannot pay its bills even if it wanted to, so their largest economic driver, petroleum products, is suffering from tremendous financial and economic distress.Even worse above all of this is that the issues are creating further tensions between the Dutch and their Caribbean territories known as the “ABC” islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, in addition to Dutch St Maarten.The latest wave of allegations stemming from the Dutch against Venezuela along with the oil crisis, reported widely in the Netherlands and their other Caribbean territories, is the alleged smuggling of gold to the tune of several thousand kilos per month from Venezuela into Curacao.Dutch politicians have asked for a full investigation into the matter, most notably calls from Dutch parliamentarian Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP), in hopes of prompting the Dutch government to become more active in ensuring that the crisis in Venezuela does not become a larger Dutch problem.This cannot become the “norm” for relations for Venezuela with the rest of the world. If it wasn’t for the fact that that international sanctions were bad enough, President Maduro seems to be digging his heels in, looking for the next scheme to wrap the country’s oil reserves in order to make some quick cash.As reported by Caribbean News Now earlier this month, the opposition controlled Venezuelan parliament rejected the idea of President Maduro starting the country’s first cryptocurrency backed by oil, what officials referred to as the “Petro”.'No one wants to be last in line.' Seizure of Venezuela oil assets may start wave.Oil seizure aggravates Venezuela-Curaçao tensionsConoco has seized Venezuela PDVSA products from Isla refinery: CuracaoCuracao sees 'potential crisis' from Venezuelahttps://www.ien.com/regulation/news/21004953/curacao-court-oks-conoco-seizure-of-venezuelan-oilhttp://curacaochronicle.com/politics/pdvsa-moves-to-protect-exports-as-conoco-seizures-weigh/