Venezuela plans to increase oil production to 1.5 million b/d this year

Venezuela plans to increase oil production to 1.5 million barrels per day in 2021, Report states, citing Investing.com.

"We have a goal to reach 1.5 million b/d, which will be sold around the world, with new mechanisms for production, financing, and marketing," President of the country Nicolas Maduro said in his annual address to the people. He recalled that in March 2015, before introducing US sanctions against Venezuela, PDVSA maintained production at the level of 2.15 million b/d.

"In the period from 2014 to 2019, oil production fell by 69% due to the industry's inability to access financing and the ban on the sale of oil. Venezuela's losses since 2015 amounted to about $ 100 billion. We lasted 13 months without selling a drop of oil to the world, " he said.

The Venezuelan President also called for working on returning the oil and gas company Citgo to the its ownership.

According to Maduro, if Venezuela manages to regain its resources, it could resume oil production to about 2 million barrels per day.

Notably, the largest hub that helps Venezuela sell its oil to circumvent US sanctions is the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Reuters' special investigation notes that the new intermediaries between PDVSA and buyers of Venezuelan oil were the UAE-registered companies Muhit Maritime FZE, Issa Shipping, and Asia Charm.

In March 2020, Venezuelan oil prices fell to 5-10 US dollars per barrel.