ConocoPhillips Venezuela oil projects back to full production

URL 11:08 AM CST Tuesday 

Houston-based energy company ConocoPhillips has restored its oil ventures in Venezuela to full production after disruption from an oil workers' strike, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

"We're back at full capacity at Petrozuata and Hamaca," ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva old reporters on the sidelines of the annual National Petrochemical and Refiners Association conference.

ConocoPhillips' Hamaca project, which had been producing about 50,000 barrels per day of extra heavy oil, halted operations during a two-month strike which started in early December.

The Petrozuata joint venture between ConocoPhillips and state Venezuelan oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela, which normally processes 120,000 barrels per day of Orinoco crude into 102,000 bpd of synthetic oil, also halted production.

The two projects restarted late last month and have since then steadily increased production.

"We see no permanent problems operating in Venezuela," Mulva said.

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said on Monday that Venezuela was producing 3.2 million bpd, above the official pre-strike level of 3.1 million bpd.

According to Reuters, opposition oil strikers in Venezuela, more than 16,000 of whom have since been fired by the government, question the accuracy of the government's figures and peg current production at 2.45 million bpd.

Venezuela at one point saw its oil output plummet to below 150,000 bpd during the strike.