Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Venezuela's state-owned oil company, was reportedly hit by a cyberattack over the weekend that disrupted its export operations.
In a statement on Monday, PDVSA denied that the Saturday morning incident affected its operations. It claimed the breach was limited to some administrative systems. "Thanks to the expertise of PDVSA's human talent, the operational areas were not affected in any way, with the attack being limited to its administrative system," the company said. "Therefore, the industry's operational continuity is maintained through the implementation of secure
protocols that allow for its regular activities in the supply of products to the domestic market, as well as the fulfillment of all its export commitments."
However, an internal memo seen by Bloomberg suggests otherwise, reporting that PDVSA instructed operational and administrative staff to disconnect from the network and shut down their computers. Three sources familiar with the situation also told Bloomberg that systems on PDVSA's network that manage the country's main crude terminal were still offline on Monday. This was confirmed by Reuters, citing an inside source who said, "There's no delivery (of cargoes), all systems are down."
This cyberattack comes amid escalating tensions between Venezuela and the United States. Last week, U.S. authorities seized a sanctioned oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude, the first such seizure since the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned PDVSA in January 2019.
In its Monday statement, PDVSA blamed the United States and domestic conspirators for orchestrating the attack as part of an attempt "to undermine national stability." "This attempted aggression is part of the US government's public strategy to seize Venezuelan oil by force and piracy," the company said. "Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. categorically rejects this despicable action, orchestrated by foreign interests in collusion with unpatriotic elements seeking to undermine the country's right to sovereign energy development."
Venezuela is one of the world's major oil-producing countries and a top global oil exporter. PDVSA oversees the country's oil production, refining, and exports, as well as the exploration and production of natural gas.
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