The Venezuelan government said it was ready to increase its oil production in an attempt to tackle a widespread economic and social crisis.
According to oil minister Manuel Quevedo, the country is about to hit the level of over 2 million barrels per day. He said Venezuela’s oil output is now close to 1.9 million barrels per day and is expected to exceed 2.4 million barrels per day.
Venezuela told OPEC it produced 1.834 million barrels per day in November. According to S&P Global Platts, the nation’s oil production was 1.7 million barrels per day in December, which is the lowest since 2002.
However, it was a worker strike that crippled production back then. Excluding this factor, Venezuela's oil industry had not performed so poorly since 1989.
In summer 2014, the country produced 2.3 million barrels of oil per day at the price level of $100 per barrel.
