Venezuela's Oil Recovery Stalls Amid Pro-Business Reforms and US Concessions
Venezuela's oil industry recovery has stalled in recent months, despite pro-business reforms and rising global prices. According to OPEC's latest monthly report, Venezuela produced 1.145 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, up 23,000 bpd from the previous month.
However, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA reported an August output of 1.201 million bpd, virtually unchanged from July. The strong first-trimester recovery that followed Washington's lifting of its naval blockade has plateaued, with output growing by only 7 percent since May.
The acting Rodríguez government has granted long-term concessions to US-controlled NABEP, a company led by Venezuelan oil mogul Alejandro Betancourt. The concessions include 17 prime oilfields holding 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, including extra-heavy-crude projects in the Orinoco Oil Belt and mature light- and medium-crude ones in the Lake Maracaibo basin.