India鈥檚 Jindal exits oil venture with Venezuela's PDVSA
(Bloomberg) - Jindal Power Ltd.聽is walking away from a venture that would have operated an oil-processing facility for Venezuela鈥檚 state-controlled crude producer, according to people familiar with the matter.
India鈥檚 Jindal is exiting the deal under which it would have overseen one of聽Petroleos de Venezuela鈥檚 key installations for producing and processing heavy-crude oil for export, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing non-public information.
Despite the deal鈥檚 collapse, Jindal continues to operate Venezuela鈥檚 largest iron-ore complex, a project it has led since late 2023.
The unraveling upgrader agreement is illustrative of PDVSA鈥檚 difficulties finding deep-pocketed partners to help revive Venezuela鈥檚 crude industry amid domestic political turmoil and crippling U.S. sanctions.
Jindal didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for PDVSA declined to comment.
Jindal agreed in May to partner with PDVSA in the Petrocedeno venture located in the oil-rich Orinoco Belt. For Jindal, the $300 million plan to renovate upgrading equipment and make other improvements represented its first foray into the oil sector.
However, the companies failed to reach a final agreement on control of the operation, the people said. Petrocedeno鈥檚 oil fields reached a maximum output of 160,000 bpd in the mid-2000s.