WASHINGTON: Restoring oil production in Venezuela to the maximum levels seen at the end of the last century and the beginning of this cent...
WASHINGTON: Restoring oil production in Venezuela to the maximum levels seen at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century could take decades, US energy expert Tom Kloza told TASS.
According to him, "the peak for Venezuelan oil production was 3.5-million barrels per day in 1997," while "recent production was assessed about 900,000 barrels per day with perhaps 500,000-550,000 barrels per day destined for export." "Back in 1997, US companies would occasionally import about 1.4 million barrels per day of Venezuelan oil," said Kloza, who is currently the chief oil market analyst at the American consulting firm Turner Mason & Co. and also runs his own consulting firm, Kloza Advisors LLC.
"Restoring Venezuelan oil production is something that will take decades," the expert predicted. "US major oil companies invested about $55 billion in exploration and production last year. Rystad Energy believes it might take twice that much to bring Venezuelan oil production back to levels seen in the early 21st century. It might be relatively easy with a friendly administration to get back to two million barrels per day but that would happen later this decade," Kloza pointed out.
On January 3, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto said that the US had attacked civilian and military targets in Caracas. He called Washington's actions military aggression. A state of emergency has been declared in the country. US President Donald Trump confirmed that his country had launched large-scale strikes on Venezuela. According to him, Maduro and his wife were captured and taken out of the country. According to CNN, they have been taken to the US and are currently being detained in a center in Brooklyn, south of New York City.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would take over the temporary administration of Venezuela. In addition, the US leader expressed confidence that Washington would obtain compensation for American oil companies from Caracas. According to him, these companies will allocate funds to restore Venezuela's oil infrastructure.
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