Venezuelan oil production rose in April according to data shared by state-owned PdV with foreign partners and analysts, despite turmoil in the industry from criminal investigations and government interference in operations.
April production reached 820,000 b/d, according to data PdV shared with the Venezuelan Oil Chamber and Chevron, which would be the highest level in more than a year.
Production in the Orinoco heavy oil belt in April was 481,000 b/d, according to PdV, up from the 450,000 b/d estimate the company made for March. The two other main PdV production regions, Occidente and Oriente, produced 170,000 b/d and 169,000 b/d in April, respectively, according to the PdV data, slight increases from March's figures.
PdV described the figures to partners and analysts as "approximate," leading some sources to doubt its veracity. But sources with the oil chamber and Chevron told Argus the figures seem plausible.
Last month Caracas-based consultant Gas Energy estimated March production of 770,000 b/d based on PdV data, while the oil chamber put March production at 785,000 b/d. Argus estimated Venezuelan production in March at about 700,000 b/d.
Chevron told investors last week its Venezuelan production could rise by 50pc this year from current levels of around 100,000 b/d "if everything goes well" with work it has resumed there since the US eased some sanctions on operations there. A Chevron official told Argus production was closer to 120,000 b/d in Venezuela and was on track to reach 200,000 b/d by year's end.
Venezuela has arrested more than 80 energy industry and government officials in the past two months as part of an investigation into $23bn in stolen oil funds.
On Monday President Nicolas Maduro ordered PdV president and oil minister Pedro Tellechea to surrender 50 oil wells to a newly created "national workers' compensation fund" to pay for worker benefits and severance payments, a move several sources tell Argus could further complicate oil production.
