A trade group stated during a symposium on Monday that less than 30% of Venezuela’s oil wells are currently operational, with production averaging one million barrels per day.
According to the Venezuelan Petroleum Chamber (CPV), there are only 8,491 operating crude oil wells out of 30,722 total, significantly less than the 3 million barrels per day that Caracas was profiting from twenty years ago.
Even though Venezuela has the biggest reserves of crude oil in the world, years of corruption, underinvestment, and poor management in the nation have been exacerbated by US sanctions, resulting in the catastrophic decline in production.
Monday’s event was attended by US government officials, including United States charge d’affaires John Barrett, as Washington pushes to restore oil production since ousting leftist president Nicolas Maduro in January.
Barrett noted that the private sector, and US companies in particular, will be “the engine of Venezuela’s transformation into a global energy hub.”
CPV president Enrique Novoa called on Washington to fully remove sanctions because it is “what the Venezuelan people deserve as a society.”
Novoa added that multinational energy firms like Chevron and Spain’s Repsol are moving forward with projects in Venezuela.
Under intense pressure from Washington, Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, has already implemented changes to the country’s mining and hydrocarbon regulations, allowing both domestic and foreign private companies.
More than 3,464 wells have been reopened, according to Jovanny Martinez, executive vice president of PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil firm.
By 2026, the industry hopes to produce 1.3 million barrels per day on average.
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