Venezuelan oil flows over 800,000 bpd-opposition

www.alertnet.org 23 Jan 2003 19:12

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Crude oil output in strike-hit Venezuela rose by 98,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Thursday to 812,000 bpd, or 25 percent of capacity, striking oil workers said.

The government, which is battling to break the seven-week-old opposition-led strike by using replacement workers, says oil production has already surpassed 1 million bpd.

The opposition figures said most of the gains were in the east of the country, where flows reached 498,000 bpd, while western fields' output dipped slightly to 222,000 bpd. Output from the smaller fields in the south reached 92,000 bpd, the opposition said.

Before the strike, aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez from office, Venezuela pumped 3.1 million bpd of crude oil.