Petroleos de Venezuela: five years later the Aban Pearl case has not been investigated

  

Aban Pearl sinking

 

An offshore drilling barge, the Aban Pearl, owned by Aban Offshore Co. of India, was rented by the Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela in mid-2008. However, the contract was not signed with the owner but with a third party called PetroMarine Energy services Ltd., incorporated in Singapore a few months before the contract was signed. In turn, this company was owned by a company registered in Panama called ISAPECO S.A., with a capital of $10,000, jointly owned by Mr. Enoc Martinez and Mr. Hidalgo Socorro. The rental fee agreed by Petroleos de Venezuela with PetroMarine Energy services was of approximately $730,000 per day, according the Petroleos de Venezuela Annual report for 2008, see http://www.petroleumworldve.com/pdf/Memoria%20y%20Cuenta%20MENPET%202008.pdf), pages 1005 and 1006. However, the owners of the barge only received $358,000 per day, according to a report to their shareholders, see http://www.aban.com/downloads/aolpresentation.pdf. The difference of about $372,000 per day obviously went into the pockets of the third party.

 Mr. Enoc Martinez is also the owner of Astivenca, a contractor for Petroleos de Venezuela based in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He traveled to Singapore for the signing of the rental contract of the barge with Petroleos de Venezuela.

My conclusions:

·       The Aban Pearl was contracted by Petroleos de Venezuela with a third party, not directly with the owner. This is poor management and strongly suggests corruption

·       The third party, PetroMarine Energy services, was incorporated in Singapore a short time before the contract with Petroleos de Venezuela was signed. This is also a strong  indication of corruption

·       A significant amount of money, some $372,000 per day, went into the pockets of the third party

·       The owners of PetroMarine Energy Services are contractors for Petroleos de Venezuela, in Venezuela, and have close ties to the management of Petroleos de Venezuela

·       The Panamanian company owner of PetroMarine had a capital at the time of only $10,000. It was a ghost company, owned by the same person (s) that contracted for the barge with Petroleos de Venezuela.  

 

I have more details about this deal but these are the essential ones.