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Venezuelan crude oil production

dives for sixth consecutive month

CRUDE oil production in Venezuela has fallen So far, though, it has not succeeded in bringing
for the sixth consecutive month, with the down Maduro, whose government is already
national oil company (NOC) PdVSA reporting barely able to afford food, medicine and other
a drop of 32%, or 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), imports.
in June. The US, which has traditionally been the
According to a Bloomberg report that cited principal destination for Venezuela’s crude
company and government documents, oil out- exports, has been enforcing the sanctions more
put stood at 422,400 bpd as of June 28. It also tightly in recent months. It has targeted at least
registered a 74-year low at 374,000 bpd on June 50 tankers known for lifting Venezuelan crude
10. or delivering gasoline to the country, Bloomberg
During the first two weeks of June, the larg- noted.
est output drop was seen in the Orinoco oil Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investi-
belt, with production falling by almost 50% gation (FBI) said last month that it was probing
to 148,000 bpd. Meanwhile, production from several companies allegedly involved in trading
the Maracaibo Basin plunged by about 40% to oil from Venezuela in spite of the sanctions. The
83,600 bpd. investigation will target three Mexican compa-
Oil exports also sank to their lowest level nies and two Europe-based oil trading firms,
in 70 years last month, forcing PdVSA to shut according to press reports. ™
wells. At one point in June, there was only one
rig drilling for crude in the whole country, it
added.
The decline stems partly from the coronavi-
rus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has sharply
reduced energy demand around the world. But
it is also a consequence of the strict sanctions
that the US government has imposed on Vene-
zuela in a bid to break socialist Venezuelan Pres-
ident Nicolas Maduro’s grip on power.
Washington introduced restrictions on trade
with PdVSA in early 2019, hoping to hit the
country’s oil exports and force Maduro to step
down, while also backing the interim govern-
ment headed by opposition leader Juan Guaido. Most of Venezuela’s oil comes from the Orinoco Belt (Image: USGS)

US prosecutors seek to seize tankers

carrying Iranian gasoline to Venezuela

US prosecutors have filed a lawsuit to seize the Maduro out.
gasoline aboard four Iranian tankers heading to In the civil-forfeiture complaint, the US fed-
Venezuela. Iran has already successfully sent one eral prosecutors aim to stop delivery of Iranian
flotilla of fuel-laden tankers to assist the govern- gasoline aboard the Liberia-flagged Bella and
ment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. the Bering, and the Pandi and the Luna, accord-
The South American state, like Iran, is under ing to the lawsuit, first reported in the Wall Street
heavy pressure from US sanctions. Journal. It also seeks to deter future deliveries.
Gasoline shortages in Venezuela – which is, The complaint, filed in the US District Court
like Iran, a member of OPEC – have grown acute for the District of Columbia, also aims to stop
because of the sanctions. The country is endur- the flow of revenues from petroleum sales to
ing an economic collapse as the US tries to force Iran.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 09•July•2020