Venezuela is “ready and prepared” to “supply the world oil and gas market”, President Nicolás Maduro said on Wednesday, condemning the crisis generated by the “irrational” sanctions against Russian crude after the invasion of Ukraine.
“Venezuela is ready and prepared to fulfill its role and supply the oil market and gas with the oil and gas that the world economy needs in a stable way, in a safe way,” said the president in an act on the occasion of the visit to Caracas of the secretary general of OPEC, Haitham al-Ghais.
Maduro indicated that his government has been “substantially recovering” the oil industry, whose production fell to historic lows after years of disinvestment and lack of maintenance. round today the 700,000 barrels per day when it was 3.2 million a day in 2002.
A US embargo has weighed on Venezuelan crude since 2019, after Washington ignored Maduro’s re-election a year earlier. However, the government by President Joe Biden has made approaches to relax these sanctions at a time when prices are skyrocketing due to the war.
The president condemned the “energy crisis” generated by the measures against Russiawhich he called “irrational, unjustified (and) illogical”.
Russia, Europe’s largest supplier, sharply reduced its gas suppliessparking fears of shortages and rising prices.
Maduro advocated a “fair, balanced price, already assimilated” of 100 dollars a barrel and reiterated his call for foreign oil companies to produce in Venezuela.
“We are ready (…) to progressively and rapidly raise the oil productionto expand and raise the production of refined products”.
“Venezuela has a portfolio of more than 50 first-rate gas projects with seismic studies done and with all the legal guarantees for international investors” to come to “produce gas in Venezuela and bring the gas to international markets“, he insisted.
Al-Ghais pointed out for his part that OPEC faces “more serious, more critical” challenges than 62 years ago when it was founded.
