Venezuela: Chevron wants to grow Maduro’s oil production
As Chevron seeks to recoup about $3 billion in losses on its oil projects in Venezuela, the U.S. oil giant is preparing to launch a new drilling campaign that could add 65,000 barrels per day within a year, Reuters reports , citing unidentified sources. cited.
Chevron has a joint venture with Venezuelan state company PDVSA, but further drilling operations have been suspended since sanctions were extended in 2019 following doubts over the legitimacy of the 2018 election in which Nicolas Maduro took over the presidency.
According to Reuters, the Chevron-PDVSA joint venture currently produces about 135,000 bpd, a 70% increase over last year's production. Last November, Washington authorized Chevron to expand its operations in Venezuela and export oil to the United States. An easing of economic sanctions on Venezuela, but interested in containing inflation in the USA.
In August , data showed Venezuela's oil exports slumped 38% from the previous month, when they hit a three-year high. The problem is Venezuela's inability to maintain production from the upgraders, responsible for converting extra-heavy oil into grades suitable for shipping.
The previous month, Venezuela's oil exports had increased in part due to an increase in shipments from Chevron.
Although Chevron is the only US oil major with special permission to operate oil fields and export from Venezuela, Washington has indicated that more permissions could come in the future due to tight global supply.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that Washington was “ready to engage in discussions […] in exchange for concrete steps” towards a free and fair election in Venezuela.
Despite the sanctions, Maduro has consolidated his power to a significant extent and the end result of the sanctions has been to push the country towards China, Russia and Iran.
With crude oil topping $90 a barrel amid fears of a global supply crunch, more Venezuelan oil for the market could help avoid a repeat of last year's energy crisis and bring down inflation.
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The article Venezuela: Chevron wants to grow Maduro's oil production comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/venezuela-chevron-vuole-far-crescere-la-produzione-di-petrolio-di-maduro/ on Wed, 27 Sep 2023 06:00:02 +0000.