Venezuela's PDVSA cuts back oil production as export levels slow

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, March 03, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has cut its oil production back by 500,000 barrels per day as storage facilities stood at capacity, due to a reduction in recent export levels. According to PDVSA manager Luis Marin, production now stands at 1.6 million barrels per day, down from 2.1 million.

The bottleneck should be resolved this week once tankers that have been contracted by the company arrive to lift export levels.

However, rebel PDVSA executives question these figures, insisting current production to be around 1.1 million barrels per day.

In the run up to the upcoming Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting later this month, President Hugo Chavez Frias has said that he feels $30/barrel to be the perfect price for a barrel of petroleum.