中石化與委內瑞拉國家石油公司達成和解

PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, has settled in a US court with Sinopec, its Chinese counterpart, less than a week after a five-year-old dispute became public.

委內瑞拉國家石油公司(PDVSA)與中石化(Sinopec)在一家美國法院達成和解。不到一週前，這兩家公司之間長達5年的糾紛被公諸於衆。

It brings a rapid end to a drawn-out battle that shadowed a gradual souring in relations between the world’s biggest emerging economy and the holder of the world’s biggest proven oil reserves.

和解讓一場曠日持久的糾紛迅速結束，這場糾紛伴隨着世界最大的新興經濟體與擁有世界最大已探明石油儲量的國家之間關係逐漸惡化。

In a document filed on Tuesday in a US district court in Houston, Texas, PDVSA said that, “without implying acknowledgment of fault or responsibility but for the sole purpose of ending the controversy [between Sinopec USA and PDVSA]”, it agreed to pay Sinopec $21.5m, settling a contract agreed in May 2012.

PDVSA週二在向德克薩斯州休斯敦的美國地區法院提交的一份文件中表示，“在不暗示承認過錯或責任，而完全是爲了終結（中石化美國與PDVSA之間的）爭議的前提下”，它同意向中石化支付2150萬美元以了結2012年5月簽署的一項合同。

However, the agreement stipulates that the amount be converted into Chinese renminbi and paid in two instalments, one on December 14 and another on January 15, 2018.

不過，和解協議規定，這筆款項將折算成人民幣，分兩筆支付，一筆在12月14日支付，另一筆於2018年1月15日支付。

“That’s how cash poor and badly run PDVSA is,” said Russ Dallen of boutique investment bank Caracas Capital, who first made the dispute public. “They are sitting on top of the biggest oil reserves in the world and they can’t even write a cheque for $21.5m dollars.”

最先曝光這場糾紛的精品投行加拉加斯資本市場(Caracas Capital Markets)的拉斯?達倫(Russ Dallen)表示：“這表明PDVSA的資金有多麼拮据，經營有多麼糟糕。他們坐擁世界上最大石油儲量，卻連一張2150萬美元的支票也開不出來。”

He said worldwide publicity about the case over the past week had piled shame on PDVSA and the government in Caracas, “and they wanted it to go away as quickly as possible.”

他說，過去一週全世界對這一事件的報道讓PDVSA和委內瑞拉政府感到羞愧，“他們希望儘快了結該案”。

The dispute centred on a $43.5m contract for supply of steel rebar, of which Sinopec said only half had been paid. It accused PDVSA of engaging in “intentional misrepresentations, deceit, and concealment of material facts” involving “wilful deception” and a co-ordinated conspiracy among several of its subsidiaries.

這場爭端的焦點是一項4350萬美元的螺紋鋼供應合同，中石化表示，委內瑞拉國家石油公司只支付了一半的合同金額。中石化指控委內瑞拉國家石油公司“從事故意虛假陳述、欺騙以及隱瞞重大事實”，包括“蓄意欺騙”並與其幾家子公司合謀。

Sinopec, one of the biggest Chinese state oil companies, became involved in Venezuela as part of a package of Chinese loans and investments adding up to more than $62bn between 2007 and 2016. Caracas has struggled to repay its debts as the oil price has fallen from its 2014 peak and as production at PDVSA has dwindled.

作爲2007年至2016年逾620億美元的一攬子中國貸款和投資的一部分，身爲中國最大國有石油公司之一的中石化進入委內瑞拉。隨着油價自2014年峯值回落，而委內瑞拉國家石油公司產量下滑，委內瑞拉在償還債務方面陷入困難。

PDVSA and the government in Caracas have been declared in default multiple times by rating agencies since the middle of last month after they began missing payments on their international bonds.

在委內瑞拉國家石油公司和委內瑞拉政府開始未如期償付其國際債券後，評級機構自上月中旬以來多次宣佈它們違約。

Both PDVSA and the government are also in multiple disputes with oil companies, miners and others over expropriation of assets and non-payment of bills.

委內瑞拉國家石油公司和委內瑞拉政府還與石油公司、礦商和其他公司就沒收資產和拖欠賬單發生多起糾紛。

The government has been printing bolívares to cover a widening budget deficit, sending the currency into freefall on the parallel market and monthly inflation high into double digits.

委內瑞拉政府一直通過印鈔來彌補日益擴大的預算赤字，導致其貨幣大幅貶值，月度通脹升至兩位數高點。

President Nicolás Maduro has taken the country deeper into dictatorship as discontent rises at shortages of basic foods and medicines that have caused a humanitarian crisis.

委內瑞拉總統尼古拉斯?馬杜羅(Nicolás Maduro)讓該國陷入了更嚴重的獨裁統治，同時基本食品和藥物的不足導致一場人道主義危機，加劇人們的不滿情緒。