The new management of the Venezuelan state company PDVSA hopes to increase the country’s oil production to 1.17 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, while boosting refining and exploration activities, an internal planning document showed.
Venezuela’s monthly crude production exceeded 800,000 bpd in April, for the first time since December 2021, after a reorganization in the company due to the opening of an anti-corruption investigation that required an audit of all its operations, subsidiaries and joint ventures, discovering some $21 billion in accounts receivable.
an American license that allows Chevron Corp to revive its operations has also helped to recover the production and exports of crude from the country since the end of last year.
The new president of PDVSA, Pedro Tellecheaand a new board of directors this year have reviewed supply contracts and business alliances with the aim of collecting outstanding debts, optimizing operations and boosting production.
According to a plan presented by Tellechea last week to company workers, seen by Reuters on Monday, PDVSA hopes to increase crude production by about 390,000 bpd by the end of the year, boost gas production by 645 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) to 2,270 mmcfd and increase refining by 20% to internally distribute an additional 90,000 bpd of fuels.
PDVSA also aims to export around 1 million bpd of crude and fuels and 800,000 tons of petcoke a month by the end of the year, above the average of 660,000 bpd of crude and fuels and 530,000 tons of coke that it has exported in what goes of the year
One of the key projects to reach these goals is to restart next month the PDVSA-controlled Petromonagas upgrader, which has been out of service since December after a fire, to convert around 80,000 bpd of extra-heavy crude into exportable varieties.
If it hits its targets, which it has failed repeatedly in the past, PDVSA could turn in $4.2bn in cash flow this year.
The company has also drawn up a plan to drill three exploratory wells this year in the country’s western region.
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