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The Mineral Industry of Venezuela in 2008

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The Mineral Industry of Venezuela in 2008 2008 Minerals Yearbook VENEZUELA U.S. Department of the Interior August 2010 U.S. Geological Survey THE MINERAL INDUS T RY OF VENEZUELA By Alfredo C. Gurmendi In 2008, Venezuela remained highly dependent on oil mining operations. Mining is allowed by the Government revenues, which amounted to about 30% of its gross domestic through concessions, or under production authorization product (GDP) of $368.6 billion based on purchasing power issued to artisanal miners, mining cooperatives, and other parity, about 90% of its export earnings, and about 50% of small-scale mining operations. The General Regulation of the its Federal budget revenues. Fueled by high oil prices, record Mining Law (Decree No. 1234 of March 9, 2001) establishes Government spending helped to increase the GDP by nearly terms, conditions, and administrative procedures in support of 6% in 2008 compared with about 8% in 2007. This spending, Decree No. 295. Most industrial minerals found on private lands combined with recent minimum wage hikes and improved continue to be governed by Articles 7 through 10 of the Mining access to domestic credit, created a consumption boom that Law of 1945 until the individual States establish regulations came at the cost of higher inflation, which was more than (C.V.G. Compañía General de Minería C.A., 2009). 30% in 2008 compared with about 20% in 2007. Imports also The Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Energía y Petróleo increased significantly. However, declining oil prices in the (MPE) (formerly the Ministerio de Energía y Minas) manages latter part of 2008 undermined the Government’s ability to the natural gas and oil sectors. The hydrocarbon law, known continue the high rate of spending. Venezuela accounted for as the Decree with Force of Organic Law on Hydrocarbons 2.9% of the world’s bauxite output, 3% of alumina production, (Decree No. 1510 of November 2001), and Article 302 of the 1.4% of aluminum output, and 1.2% of nickel output in 2008. Constitution of 1999, reserve all primary hydrocarbon activities The Venezuelan Government oil company—Petróleos de for the Government. The hydrocarbon law was amended in Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA)—was a cofounder of the Organization 2006 by the Partial Amendment Law to Decree No. 1510 with of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is an Force of Law, Organic Law of Hydrocarbons. Nonassociated important player in the global crude oil market (table 1; Banco gas (natural gas that is not produced simultaneously with crude Central de Venezuela 2009a, b; Bray, 2009a, b; Kuck, 2009; oil) and downstream natural gas operations are excluded from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., 2009a; U.S. Central Intelligence the hydrocarbon law; they are regulated instead by the Decree Agency, 2009; U.S. Department of State, 2009). with Rank and Force of Organic Law on Gaseous Hydrocarbons (Decree No. 310 of September 1999) and by the Regulation of Minerals in the National Economy the Law on Gaseous Hydrocarbons (Decree 840 of June 2000), as amended by the MPE’s Resolution 244 of January 9, 2006 The Venezuelan Government dominated an increasing part of (Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., 2009a). the economy as a result of ongoing nationalizations of private The Norms of Environmental Evaluation of Activities entities. In 2008, the country’s leading mineral resources Susceptible to Degrade the Environment (Decree No. 1257 included, in order of value, petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron of 1996) establishes the Ministerio del Poder Popular para ore, gold, diamond, and bauxite. Petroleum activity accounted el Ambiente (Minamb). The law requires an environmental for 12.2% of Venezuela’s GDP compared with 13.8% in 2007. impact study for projects and operations in the areas of Manufacturing accounted for 16.5% of the GDP; construction, hydrocarbons and mining. The Minamb and the MPE implement 6.9%; and mining, 0.6%. Without a sustained increase in Decrees No. 1510 and No. 1257 through the “Ley Orgánica del crude oil prices, Venezuela’s economy was expected to stall or Ambiente” (Ministerio del Poder Popular para el Ambiente, contract during 2009-10, especially after the expected spending 2009; Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., 2009a). cuts that the Government announced in early 2009. Venezuela’s In the spring of 2008, the Government announced the economic growth had already slowed to 4.9% in 2008 after nationalization of the cement and steel industries. In years of rapid expansion, and many economists forecast that 2005, the Government of Venezuela had declared that the it would turn negative in 2009 (Banco Central de Venezuela, terms of the existing operating service agreement (OSA) 2009b; Daniel, 2009; Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., 2009b). contracts were illegal under the Constitution of 1999. The Corporación Venezolana de Petróleo, S.A. (CVP), a PDVSA Government Policies and Programs affiliate, subsequently initiated negotiations to restructure the OSA contracts, the profit-sharing agreements, and the Under the Venezuelan Constitution, the mineral and four strategic associations that were managed by the CVP as hydrocarbon resources belong to the state. The mining law joint ventures (Empresas Mixtas) in which, in most cases, (Decree No. 295 of September 5, 1999) establishes the rules for the Government’s interest would increase to 60%. In 2008, all mines and minerals (except hydrocarbons and some industrial owing to the Venezuelan Government’s nationalization drive, minerals not found on Government lands) within Venezuelan foreign investors, such as ENI S.p.A. of Italy, Statoil ASA of territory. These rules influence the exploration, development, Norway, and Total S.A. of France, entered into joint ventures production, marketing, and transportation of minerals. The with majority government ownership. Two U.S. companies, Ministerio del Poder Popular para las Industrias Básicas y ConocoPhillips Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp., decided to cease Minería (MIBAM) is responsible for all matters related to operations in Venezuela and filed for international arbitration. Venezuela—2008 17.1 The Government also announced its intention to nationalize the 10% of the total national output of petroleum. Multinational Banco de Venezuela (one of the country’s largest private banks) companies dominated the cement, nickel, and steel sectors. in July 2008 (Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Energía y Many companies in the coal, iron, synthetic crude oil (processed Petróleo, 2008). heavy crude oil), and steel sectors were owned by joint ventures On August 18, 2008, Holcim Ltd. and PDVSA, acting on of the Government and the private sector, such as Kobe Steel behalf of the Venezuelan Government, signed a memorandum and Mitsui and Co. Ltd. of Japan (table 2). of understanding (MOU) in which (in accordance with the Nationalization Decree) they pledged to proceed to negotiate Mineral Trade an agreement that would effect the transfer from Holcim to PDVSA of 85% of the shares (valued at $552 million) in Holcim PDVSA was one of the leading exporters of petroleum to the (Venezuela) S.A. In accordance with the MOU, the parties United States. The state-owned company had proven reserves of proceeded to negotiate the terms of a share purchase agreement, about 79 billion barrels (Gbbl) of oil (the largest outside of the but in October 2008, the Venezuelan Government ceased to Middle East), and about 4.1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. communicate with Holcim. No agreement was signed, and PDVSA’s exploration and production take place in Venezuela, Holcim received no compensation for the expropriated assets. but the company also has refining and marketing operations Holcim intended to seek relief in the form of compensation in the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States. PDVSA’s equivalent to the full fair market value of all assets at the time subsidiary CITGO Petroleum supplies gasoline to some 8,000 of the nationalization of its subsidiary Holcim (Venezuela). U.S. retail outlets. PDVSA also makes Orimulsión®, a coal Cementos Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (Cemex) initiated arbitration alternative made from bitumen. As part of a nationalization proceedings against the Government of Venezuela in December drive, in 2007 the company took control of 32 oilfields run by after the Government rejected its request for compensation of private—including foreign—enterprises. $1.3 billion. Cemex owned 50% of Venezuela’s cement industry, Venezuela enjoyed economic benefits from its mineral and Holcim and the French company Lafarge, which were also industry, which included the significant contribution the nationalized, owned equally the remaining 50% (Holcim Ltd., petroleum sector made to the country’s trade balance. In 2008, 2009; Pearson, 2009; Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., 2009a). the country’s exports amounted to $103.5 billion; its mineral exports included, in terms of value, petroleum ($62.5 billion), Production bauxite and aluminum, steel, cement, chemical products, iron ore, and other products. Its leading export partners were the In 2008, Venezuela’s leading mineral resources included, United States (42.7%), the Netherlands (8%), Mexico (4.5%), in order of value, petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, gold, Colombia (4.5%), and China (3.1%). Its imports amounted diamond, and bauxite. Venezuela’s most recent response to the to $53.5 billion of consumer goods, machinery and transport U.S. Geological Survey’s Minerals Questionnaire was in the equipment, manufactured goods, and construction materials. 2003-04 period. Production data for most of the minerals given Its leading suppliers were the United States (26.6%), Colombia in table 1, including cement, gold, iron ore, and silica sand, (13.5%), Brazil (9.5%), China (6.7%), Mexico (5.2%), and are estimated. Since 2004, gross natural gas production had Panama (5%). In 2008, bilateral trade between Venezuela been about 60 billion cubic meters per year, whereas crude oil and the United States amounted to $70 billion.
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