Despite the hopeless outlook for the Venezuelan oil industry on international markets, according to Bloomberg Línea this judgement is not accurate as PDVSA is recovering its production.
“The Venezuelan oil industry has made an unexpected comeback at just the right time,” stated the Latin American division of Bloomberg. “Venezuela, a founder of OPEC, home to the largest oil reserves on the planet, has doubled its production since the end of 2020, and there is still space for production to grow.”
Bloomberg Línea has commented that it is a comeback that seemed unthinkable, as—according to them—the harsh “sanctions” and “mismanagement” has hit the industry hard. So how has PDVSA done it?
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The recovery was possible thanks to the help of allies such as China and Iran. The Venezuelan strategy was the following: import light oil from Iran to dilute the thick Venezuelan crude, work with local contractors to maintain the flow of oil, and then sell it to China through middlemen.
This is how PDVSA is currently producing 800 barrels per day, which accounts for 60% of what they were pumping before the imperialist blockade. There is hope that this pace will hold and, with the rise in the price of crude due the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, more wealth will flow into Venezuela.
Featured image: PDVSA plant in Venezuela. Photo: Reuters.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
