Oil workers in an oil field at sunset. Photo: File photo.
The monthly report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for February has shown that Venezuela averaged 1,031,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, 33,000 barrels more than the previous month, and above the virtual seven-figure barrier that was only reached for the last time in July 2019.
The figure, published on Wednesday, February 12, exceeds the milestone of one million that was already announced but has now been confirmed by OPEC. This not only places Venezuelan production on the rise, but also shows that the sanctions imposed by the US empire against the national oil industry have been slowly but steadily overcome.
In the previous OPEC monthly report, corresponding to January, Venezuela averaged a production of 998,000 bpd in December 2024, 38,000 barrels more than the previous month.
According to an article by petroleum engineer Germán Márquez Gil, PDVSA having reached that figure (1.03 million bpd) “is a victory.”
In his article, published in the newspaper El Universal, he explains that “the tireless work of thousands of workers, who, together with government policies, joined forces to demonstrate to the eyes of spectators of global energy geopolitics that we have surpassed the seven-figure barrier, has borne fruit.”
“It is good news for the nation to start this year adding barrels to the world market,” says Márquez Gil, adding that “considering the latest inter-monthly volumetric increases, we could approach 1,300,000 barrels per day by the end of 2025.”
He pointed out that surpassing one million barrels “was not an easy journey. That path with its ups and downs began in September 2020, when we managed to stop the drastic drop in oil production that fell below 400,000 barrels per day on average per month.”
For the oil industry, “it is truly admirable how production has managed to gradually climb positions in recent years, after overcoming illegal US sanctions that restrict the normal operation of PDVSA.”
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Good news
The president of the Latin American Association of Texas oil workers, Alejandro Terán, described the fact that Venezuela has reached production of 1.03 million bpd as very positive. Because of this total, 400,000 barrels are to be distributed to Texas through Chevron and allied companies.
Small Texan producers are hoping to add 100,000 more barrels and consolidate the so-called Macroeconomic Oil Stabilization Fund, that will allow the Venezuelan oil industry to stabilize this year between 1.5 and 2 million bpd.
Terán also described an agreement signed this week between India and Venezuela as “very positive,” “because India has excellent relations with both the US and Venezuela, so this coordination would be fundamental and strategic for increasing production, for stabilizing the market in the eastern part of the world and in the US. Everything that comes from India, Texas, and Venezuela will be very strategically developed to reach six million barrels per day within the next six years, by 2031, as we have estimated.”
He believes that for the international market, the incorporation of PDVSA with 1.03 million bpd “is really very encouraging news, so we salute the PDVSA workers who have assumed operational control, led by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.”
(Últimas Noticias) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
