"The oil sector's decline has been blamed on the combined effects of US sanctions and years of underinvestment, mismanagement and corruption under Maduro and his left-wing predecessor, Hugo Chavez. While the Trump administration could boost supply in the short term by lifting sanctions, restoring Venezuela's output to anything near peak levels would require huge investment and likely take years, according to energy analysts."
"Venezuela's oil infrastructure is in poor shape overall, due to lack of maintenance for both equipment and oilfield wells, Scott Montgomery, a global energy expert at the University of Washington, told Al Jazeera. The state oil company, PDVSA, is well known to suffer from corruption and lack of expertise many well-trained people have left the country to work elsewhere and has been unable to invest in the country's petroleum sector, Montgomery added."
Venezuela possesses the world's largest known oil reserves, estimated at about 303 billion barrels, but currently produces only a tiny fraction of global output. Estimated output was 860,000 barrels per day in November, less than 1 percent of the world's total, compared with 3.7 million bpd at the 1970 peak. The oil sector declined because of US sanctions, chronic underinvestment, mismanagement and corruption under Maduro and Hugo Chavez. PDVSA suffers corruption, loss of skilled staff and inability to invest. Oilfield equipment and infrastructure lack maintenance. Lifting sanctions could raise short-term supply, but restoring peak output would require massive investment and years amid global oversupply.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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