A general view of the Amuay refinery complex, which belongs to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, in Punto Fijo, Venezuela November 17, 2016. Much of that cash, in turn, flowed to the investors that own both PES and North Yard, led by the Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm with $178 billion in assets.The deal in effect guaranteed lucrative payouts to Carlyle regardless of whether the refinery benefited from the arrangement. The Carlyle-led consortium collected at least $594 million in cash distributions from PES before it collapsed, according to a Reuters review of bankruptcy filings. At the time, U.S. oil production was skyrocketing as improved drilling technology unlocked new reserves in places such as North Dakota. PES then signed a ten-year agreement with North Yard to pay $1.95 for each barrel unloaded and agreed to a minimum quarterly volume of 170,000 bpd, guaranteeing the $30 million quarterly payments to North Yard.

Source: Egypt Today February 20, 2018 06:00 UTC