Venezuela in freefall
Caracas doesn't have an answer for the accelerating deterioration of the country's oil industry
If anyone should be cheering the oil price rally it's Venezuela. The country was an early agitator for the Opec deal that has finally helped deliver higher prices, and badly needed a price recovery to aid its crisis-stricken economy. But with oil output in freefall, operations paralysed by a military power grab at state-run PdV and the weight of US economic sanctions bearing down, even an oil bull run hasn't been enough to bring cheer to Venezuela. Oil production enters 2018 in the sharpest decline in the country's history. At the end of 2017, Venezuela was producing around 1.62m barrels a day, the lowest point in decades outside the 2002 oil strike, according to figures the country reports
Also in this section
21 February 2025
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
20 February 2025
Greater social mobility means increased global demand for refined fuels and petrochemical products, with Asia leading the way in the expansion of refining capacity
19 February 2025
The EU would do well to ease its gas storage requirements to avoid heavy purchase costs this summer, with the targets having created market distortion while giving sellers a significant advantage over buyers
18 February 2025
Deliveries to China decline by around 1m b/d from move to curb crude exports to Shandong port, putting Iran under further economic pressure
