Oil Production in Venezuela Shows Slight Recovery

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The growth is reflected in the monthly figures of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This is the highest figure since the tightening of US sanctions against the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in August this year.

This month, the US government threatened foreign companies with sanctions should they continue to cooperate with PDVSA.

As early as January, Washington began taking action against the South American country’s oil sector with the aim of forcing its president, Nicolás Maduro, out of office.

Many companies, including Chinese bulk buyers, were forced to partially forego the purchase of Venezuelan crude oil as a result of the penalties. This led to an increase in inventories and forced PDVSA to reduce production.

The current rebound in oil exports came after customers such as Reliance Industries of India and Repsol of Spain increased their orders, allowing PDVSA to reduce inventories and expand production. According to Refinitiv Eikon, oil exports picked up again in the first week of December.

According to published figures, production in November averaged between 926,000 and 965,000 barrels per day, compared with 761,000 barrels per day in October, as reported by PDVSA for the month. The increase was coupled with the increase in exports to more than one million barrels per day.

Nevertheless, the rebound in Venezuela’s most important economic sector can only be described as modest. Ten years ago the production volume was 3.2 million barrels per day, compared to 1.4 million barrels per day in April this year, in the midst of a severe economic crisis.

However, OPEC’s Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo ascribed Venezuelan oil a crucial role in global development and criticized the US economic sanctions. He praised the efforts of the government under President Maduro.

“The best years for this nation are yet to come, Venezuela has a bright future, it is a very rich country with very entrepreneurial and educated people,” he added.