Venezuelan Oil Exports Rising, Grades Find Markets in Asia

June 21, 2022--Written by Pietro D. Pitts for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Cash-strapped, state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) looks to benefit from the war in Ukraine, which has boosted demand for its oil while increasing commodity prices. The combination of higher oil demand and prices will boost Venezuela's petroleum revenues and could allow PDVSA to achieve some modest production gains and even higher exports.

Venezuela's oil production in mid-January 2022 sat just below 800,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), according to PDVSA production reports seen by Industrial Info. Caracas-based Ecoanalitica expects Venezuela's production to average 830,000 BBL/d in 2022 under a status quo scenario with an average oil price of US$71.52 per barrel, the consultancy revealed in a March 2022 report to clients. Under the scenario, Venezuela's petroleum revenues could reach US$22 billion in 2022 compared with US$7 billion in 2021, when average production was 635,250 BBL/d and the average oil price was just US$30.66 per barrel.