Indian national oil company ONGC's offshore oil rigs. File photo.
The Indian state-owned oil company, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India, is evaluating the full resumption of its operatorship in Venezuela after securing a US Treasury license, a senior official of the company said.
The chief financial officer of ONGC, Anupam Agarwal, stated on Sunday, August 16, that the license from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will allow the company to resume full operations in Venezuela after years of limited activity because of “sanctions-related risks.”
In a conference call with investors following the announcement of the first-quarter results, Agarwal said, “Now we have full freedom to work on the Venezuela project because earlier we were restricting our operations there because of the sanctions-related risks. Those risks are behind us.”
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of the Indian company, holds a 40% stake in the San Cristóbal oil project, while the rest belongs to the Venezuela state oil company PDVSA. It also holds 11% of the shares in the Carabobo project, which is currently under development.
Anupam Agarwal stated that the firm is in talks with Venezuelan authorities and its partners in the joint ventures about its interests in the San Cristóbal and Carabobo projects, so he expects “positive progress soon,” which would include new agreements and a possible transfer of operations by the Venezuelan state oil company.
Increase in Venezuelan oil production
On August 15, the president of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Hector Obregon, reported that Venezuela’s oil production has recently exceeded 1.23 million barrels of crude oil per day. He added that the refining capacity has exceeded 350,000 barrels per day.
“We have resumed the goal of 1.2 million [bpd],” he said. “In fact, today we have a specific daily goal of 1.233 million. This was our production today.”
According to preliminary data from the US Energy Information Administration, for the week ending on August 7, Venezuela averaged 743,000 barrels per day (bpd) in exports to the US, ranking as the second main supplier and displacing Mexico, which held a distant third place with 303,000 bpd.
The Venezuelan energy infrastructure has shown remarkable resilience following the June earthquakes. By August 14, the entire refining system was operating normally, and the electrical system associated with the industry remained stable, despite electrical failures that have affected many Venezuelans, according to Venezuelan media reports.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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