New PdV oil production plan keeps levels flat

Venezuela's state oil firm PdV presented a new oil production plan this week that mostly maintains current levels while trying to resolve bottlenecks and major problems before undertaking any significant increases.

PdV president Pedro Tellechea presented the confidential Integral Productive Recovery Plan 2023 to unit presidents and the heads of partnerships, sources tell Argus. The initial goal is bringing stability to current production, which the company says has risen to around 800,000 b/d, but Argus put at about 750,000 b/d in April.

PdV stands by the goal to bring production to 1mn b/d by the end of the year, but said repeatedly it sought to maintain current levels and improve reliability by identifying bottlenecks and addressing corruption within the company.

"In order to satisfy world demand, we need to generate trust in the existing processes and later (enact) the necessary growth as needed," on attendee of the meeting told Argus. At one point during the presentation a large number of mostly PdV employees were asked to leave.

The presentation is the first major update to plans since Tellechea, a former Army colonel, took on the dual roles of head of PdV and Venezuela oil minister. Since then his predecessor, former oil minister Tareck El Aissami, has been targeted as part of a massive investigation related to the alleged theft of up to $23bn in oil funds, which has led to dozens of arrests.

By Carlos Camacho