Iranian-flagged oil tanker in Venezuela's northern state of Carabobo. Photo: AFP via Getty Images.
Iran has supplied some 2.8 million parts to Venezuela for the purpose of restarting the El Palito refinery, which was knocked out of operation by US coercive economic measures—euphemistically referred to as “sanctions”.
“The processing [of oil] at the El Palito refinery in Venezuela, which had reached zero after the withdrawal of the United States [from Venezuela], reached 100,000 barrels per day thanks to the supply of 2.8 million parts that they needed from Iranian industries,” revealed Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oyi on Monday.
Oil production in El Palito, the Iranian minister added, will increase to 140,000 barrels per day in the coming months. “We are active abroad … we built the El Palito refinery in Venezuela, and part of its oil is exported from Iran,” he added.
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In May 2022, a unit of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a $116 million contract with the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to repair and expand the El Palito refinery, in the state of Carabobo.
Iran sets a new record
Speaking at the inauguration of a major oil project in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan, Oyi reported that a new record in oil production and sales was met by the Persian country.
“At the beginning of the current administration, the pressure of the sanctions increased and the export of oil decreased,” he stated, going on to denounce the cyber attack carried out on 4,400 different fuel stations during the aforementioned period.
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Despite all the pressure, he added, Iran’s oil production capacity currently stands at more than 3.85 million barrels per day.
A report published earlier this year by the British news agency Reuters confirmed that exports of Iranian crude oil reached levels which have not been seen since the imposition of sanctions by the United States in 2018.
These new figures are yet another sign that US sanctions against Iran have failed to reduce the Persian country’s oil revenues to zero, a frequently stated goal by both former and current US officials.
(HispanTV)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SL
