Did Exon Ink A deal for the Hovensa plant?

Anyone hearing anything ?

Yes....It would be huge.....if true.

Maybe the Chinese will take it over.

But the chief culprit is China. In the last few years, China has advanced the Venezuelan government $36 billion in credits with repayment being set in oil and petroleum products, chiefly fuel oil. Venezuela has already repaid $16 billion, according to Pdvsa President Rafael Ramirez, who is also the country’s energy minister.

The downside of loans to China, and other barter programs, is that Pdvsa doesn’t receive any money from the sales, and must cover the production costs. “Such deals make up about 700,000 bbl/day,’’ Aristizabal says.
http://latintrade.com/2013/10/the-ugly-truth-about-pdvsa

i have heard rumors about the Chinese buying, but you know how rumors go. the person i heard that from has heard it from a lot of people?

the chinese also have a big foothold in other caribbean islands

I'll be glad when we get a new owner and be able to get some overtime and it should be a lot

Is reality setting in now?

I heard it on a morning yak show- casually mentioned by a guest host.

Heard what, exactly? And from whom?

Plenty of things going on at Hovensa as we await the announcement.

Plenty of things? Such as?

plenty of talk and nothing said

plenty of talk and nothing said

More rumors abound, actual houses sold "management" moving into the island (again, from what I thought I could consider good sources)...

after the last round, however, I'm not getting my hopes up.

i am waiting this time with bated breath

Ye of little faith...hang in there.

Plenty of things going on at Hovensa as we await the announcement.

Plenty of things? Such as?

So many people seem to have the inside track on what's happening. I feel sort of left out.

There are so many back-door, secret deals done in our islands by the inept, ethically and morally challenged and the greedy that it boggles the mind. I don't know about anything having to do with Hovensa nor any rumors but people should be very leery of any secret goings on that are supposedly done in our best interest that will have lasting impacts on our lives, our communities and our economy. Past dealings predict future outcomes. The devil is in the details. Good Luck STX.

Alana, I agree 100%!

HOWEVER there is nothing that any of us can do about it, if in fact secret dealings are being done. We can certainly be leery, but I would think that none of us here on this board have any say in the matter whatsoever.

I spoke with family friends today who moved off island to take a job at another refinery who have been contacted within the past week to determine if they are interested in coming back. Secret deals or not, I'm damn excited.

Im sorry Joan, but I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Not to tip my hand too much, but I have dealt with governments and regulators around the world my whole career I have seen them come, and see them go, and I have seen what they were replaced with. I myself do vote but I dont comment on any government anywhere because I have to "play the ball as it lies" as they say in golf.
Generally speaking, governments stay in place as long as the majority feels like they have more to lose than they have to gain. If the majority ever gives up on this view the ground starts moving to a new equilibrium point. So its a matter of identifying the coalition that keeps any government in place and convincing a piece of that coalition that they would be better off with someone else. Persons who give up and do nothing are in fact are part of the governing coalition. Remember that those like me are the worst of fair weather friends indeed to any government, because we have to adjust to any ground movement.
Corruption is bad for business and the economic environment, because there are two parties involved the giver and the receiver and both are guilty. Most good or even not so good entities dont want to get too far off into this because at some point you lose control of the cost as demands increase and because they prefer to sit at the bar or be admitted to the bar rather than be sitting behind bars. The short sighted forget that eventually it all comes out in the wash and even if its too long ago to be prosecuted a path of bread crumbs leads to something more current. So if things get too shady, folks just move to a different jurisdiction, there are opportunities everywhere. Investment is welcome everywhere.
SO now back onto the OP, from my end of the environment, yes I think the government still has a fish on the hook, and if the VI is scared of anything, they are scared of unemployment and craves jobs, so they must see that as a vulnerability in their coalition. So yes, they may be testing the water to see how much they can get away with, but my sense of it is they are not going to goof around and let the deal get away either.

David - I am but one vote, and those on this board who vote, also carry 1 vote. We each vote for the # of STX Senators that we believe in. But there are 7 from STT and one at large. So my votes for the (probably) 3 or 4 who I think are worthy of the job, won't really effect much change.

Then there is the whole issue of whether elections here are rigged. And the fact that the Democrats are running the show here.

I never said anything about giving up.

But I am realistic that each one of us cannot change the status quo here.

I prefer bullet voting.

Unfortunately, the crosshairs fog up as I'm about to pull the trigger. 😛

My total time on the islands has been eleven years although I just moved back less than a month ago (still driving around in a rent-a-car). Dont ask me why I left, dont ask me why Im back its a long ugly story dont want to talk about it... 🙁 lol. Suffice it to say that I learned my lesson and this is home base and if I have to do some physical commuting so be it. But the universal acceptance of telecommuting and a shift in my career objectives makes home basing here a lot more practical than it use to be. Not to mention the Caribbean has many interesting legal jurisdictions. So I am re acclimating.

Sorry if I have offended, Joan, not my intention. As far as vote rigging yuck and double yuck (td) if peaceful transitions of power are thwarted from taking their due course then Irons preferred voting method normally takes sway. Second, I will confess that I normally dont have to deal with any legislature unless there is a budget or law adjustment that needs to happen. I normally deal with regulators from the executive branch of governments.

Party doesnt matter, Hell, I have identified at least 3 different factions within the party and I havent been home a flat sec. Assuming those in power are there because of the voters putting them there (which I acknowledge may still be in doubt) there must be several someones out there who voted for the status quo. But we all have more than just our vote, we have ears and mouth. Listen to what people who voted for status quo hoped to gain or feared losing by doing so and you have a mouth to persuade that they may be better off in a different coalition. The old saying goes all politics are local, I would argue that all politics are personal.

As far as knowing about the meeting and the dealings I promise you dont, remember the one about liking to eat sausage but you dont want to see it made. I have no "special" knowledge of this or any deal that I am not involved in. The buyer is poor mouthing swearing up and down that they cant make a plug nickel off the project unless the seller and the government pick up more of the cost and more "cost efficient" regulatory environment in other words let me do whatever I want to (even though almost always the one claiming poverty is often the richest guy in the room). The seller wants rock solid language that lets them totally off the hook for absolutely everything until the end of time. The government is going to want all sorts of guarantees about how many people are being hired, including senior folks (making sure of course that someone nephews is included in senior management) and how much working capital is going to be kept in the banking system here and of course there is always the matter of which bank. Then there is always the matter of how much local contracting or sub contracting is to be done (and of course somebodies brother-in-law firm should have some business thrown their way). Adding to that the Gov here is a lame duck and has been overridden on occasion so the buyer is probably twittering their thumbs awhile until they know who they are dealing with for sure. None of this is even starting to count some of the really dirty stuff that can go on.

I spoke with family friends today who moved off island to take a job at another refinery who have been contacted within the past week to determine if they are interested in coming back. Secret deals or not, I'm damn excited.

Really?
1. Was that an opinion poll or a job offer?
2. Did the caller identify themselves as Company X?
3. Do you think a Company would base its decision to buy on whether those recent laid off want their jobs back?
4. Do you think any company would have trouble hiring people on Stx? Would they really have to ask?
5. Did you ever wonder if it is a ploy to fuel a rumor to the vulnerable so that certain people get reelected?

So we went from "5 anxious buyers" last year to Exxon rumors, to "end of March" then it was end of April, now DeJonh and Sanes say "December".
Really?
How many times will you let yourself be fooled in the same way by the same characters?

When will we realize that DeJongh's 4th agreement gave Hovensa an incentive NOT to sell. And there is no requirement in the agreement that requires Hovensa to sell even if they have a buyer? So keep letting these 'officials' string you along. Just wondering who was still drinking the Koolaid...

I was wondering when MissMouthpeice would chime in...lol.

I was wondering when MissMouthpeice would chime in...lol.

When a healthy dose of negativity needs to be injected you can count on the professional doomsayers.