The oil markets have been in constant twists and turns which may result to one of Russia’s state owned oil company Rosneft ending up owning Citgo, an energy company based in Houston Texas.
Although the company may not directly take over Citgo, but stil hinges on the ability of Venezuela’s state-run oil company to pay back its Russian loan. The Venezuelan company owns Citgo, which was used as collateral.
Both Dominican and Republican lawmakers were deeply troubled with the news. Members of the congress and senators warned that this could be a big problem for the U.S. national security in the event that Russia Get a hold of Citgo.
"We are extremely concerned that Rosneft's control of a major US energy supplier could pose a grave threat to American energy security, impact the flow and price of gasoline for American consumers, and expose critical US infrastructure to national security threats," a bipartisan group of senators led by Republican Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey wrote Monday in a letter to US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
The note brought a lot of tension and is high between U.S. and Russia over the Conflict in Syria and Cybercrime were among other disputes. Rosneft is also currently on the U.S. sanctions list for “violating international law and fueling conflict in Ukraine.”
If Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will not be able to pay bills on time, Rosneft will have a bigger chance of getting control over Citgo. All Rosneft would need to do is to buy more of PDVSA’s bonds to get over the 50% ownership threshold.