Venezuela’s oil production recovers, but remains far from Maduro’s goal

Venezuela’s oil production recovered last August its levels of two months ago, above 700,000 barrels per day, but still remains far from the quota promised by the government of Nicolás Maduro for this year, according to a report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The latest report from the oil conglomerate, which Venezuela co-founded in 1960, states that the South American country produced an average of 723,000 barrels per day last month.

The figure represents an increase of 14% compared to its levels in July, when the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela reported 629,000 barrels per day to the agency.

OPEC also reflected a slight decrease in crude oil output from the nation presided over by Maduro during the second quarter of the year: between April and June, it averaged 745,000 barrels per day, while between January and March it did the same with 756,000. This means 11,000 barrels less every 24 hours, on average, between both periods.

In the first months of the year, the Venezuelan head of state insisted on his goal of raising crude oil production in his country to two million barrels. This plan means increasing the current pumping quota in the South American country by more than 160%.

“This year we are going to two million barrels per day rain, shine or shine. This year we recovered oil production hand in hand with the working class”, he stated last March during a public meeting with delegates from the productive sectors.

That month, Maduro met in Caracas with a high-level delegation from the United States government to discuss, among other issues, the possibility of resuming energy cooperation between the two countries as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

White House sources confirmed to the press that there was no progress in those discussionswhile the political negotiations in Mexico City between the Maduro government and its opponents, facilitated by the Kingdom of Norway, remained stuck.

an impossible goal

The goal of two million barrels of crude oil per day was “impossible” to achieve from day one of Maduro’s promise in a scheme of foreign sanctions and with the duty to compete with the Russian offer in the Asian market, warns the Economist Luis Oliveros.

To achieve it, Venezuela must have access to the Citgo company in the United States, today managed by executives appointed by the political opposition to Chavismo, and that economic sanctions be suspended. That goal can be achieved in this scenario “relatively quickly, in a year and a half or two years,” says Oliveros. in statements to the voice of america.

Venezuela’s oil production has received considerable aid from Iran for a year, in a framework of economic sanctions imposed by the United States. Until last May, the Iranian government had delivered 6.8 million barrels of crude oil to PDVSA.

These Iranian condensates were key to improving gasoline refining, as well, according to unionists from the local industry and economists specialized in the area.

“What we are seeing are spikes. When the Iranian condensate arrives, Venezuela increases its production. When that product does not arrive, its production does not increase. Venezuela is ‘Iranian dependent’” in current times, Oliveros points out.

Maduro’s idea was to progressively scale production until reaching 3 million barrels per day, on average, in 2023. That is the level that the country had before the rise to power of his political mentor, former President Hugo Chávez Frías, in 1999.

Corruption complaints, dismissals of qualified personnel after a strike against Chávez and a massive collection of signatures to request a recall against him, mismanagement, nationalization of outsourced companies and United States sanctions undermined the capacity of the Venezuelan State to maintain its production. crude, according to experts.

The barrel of WTI crude was selling at 86 dollars at noon on Tuesday, while Brent was around 92 dollars per unit. The prices of both products were close to 120 dollars in March and June, pushed up by the war in Ukraine, according to experts.

Maduro recently offered his energy finishes to Europe and the United States, assuring that Venezuela was “ready and prepared” to export oil and gas.

“I say to Europe, to the European Union, and I say to President Joe Biden of the United States: Venezuela is here, Venezuela will always be here and our oil and gas are at your service to stabilize the world and to help you in that we have to help the world in oil and gas”, he indicated in a televised act last Friday.

Juan Guaidó, opposition leader recognized as president in charge of Venezuela by 50 governments around the world, including the United States, has assured in the past that buying oil from Maduro is the same as “financing torture and drug trafficking.” Also, he has said that the oil sold by his political nemesis is “stained with blood.”

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