Delcy Rodriguez and Hector Obregon outline PDVSA plan for 2025
From left to right: PDVSA CEO Hector Obregon, Vice Minister for Gas Luis Gonzalez, and Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Oil Delcy Rodriguez. Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela.
On Wednesday, Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and PDVSA CEO Hector Obregon outlined plans for the sector at the Cámara Petrolera’s 2024 conference.
The Venezuelan state-owned company hopes to start exporting natural gas in 2027, direct more oil exports towards Asia, and give a greater role to the domestic, private energy industry.
The event was attended by the representatives of oil corporations, Venezuelan services companies, and the public sector.
Currently, natural gas production hardly covers national demand. Nonetheless, Obregon has said that Venezuela could start exporting 80 million cubic feet per day by 2027, reaching 350 million by 2030.
Companies like Repsol, Eni, Sucre Energy, and Roszarubezhneft already control important gas fields, while Shell and BP are interested in offshore projects near Trinidad's sea border.
Crude oil production is expected to increase from 1.05 million bpd in December this year to 1.32 million by the end of 2025, according to Obregon’s presentation. In October, PDVSA claimed to produce 989,000 bpd while secondary sources said the figure was 895,000 bpd.
PDVSA CEO Hector Obregon’s forecast for crude oil production, in thousand barrels per day. He expects the 2025 average to be 1.2 million bpd. Ministerio del Poder Popular de Petróleo.
Back in May, former Oil Minister Rafael Tellechea forecast 1.02 million bpd for June 2024 and for output to reach 1.24 million bpd this December. Tellechea was removed from his post in August, and later arrested in October, accused of selling sensitive information to a CIA-linked company.
Both Rodriguez and Obregon highlighted that they are focusing on exports to “emerging economies” naming mostly China, India, and Southeast Asia, arguing that they have a fast-growing energy demand. Nevertheless, in the last year exports to the US and Europe have risen in part at the expense of Asia.
Obregon emphasised the need for fuel production to meet economic growth. According to the central bank, Venezuela’s GDP is expected to grow by over 8% this year; the UNDP estimates 6% and the IMF 3%.
Obregon also said that greater production would allow for revitalising Petrocaribe, the scheme where Venezuela sold subsidised oil to Caribbean nations.
The two also brought up the need to reduce emissions in the oil industry. The key for them is to capture the natural gas that is a by-product of oil extraction. So far, it is mostly flared, turning Venezuela into one of the worst polluters. Since 2023 there has been a drive to bring foreign companies to capture this gas and process it, either to sell or to inject it back into wells.
Rodriguez, who is also the oil minister, encouraged private Venezuelan businesses to take a greater role in the sector, saying “Form conglomerates, take an oil well!” Domestic, private firms have mostly limited themselves to providing goods and services to PDVSA and foreign corporations, with few exceptions.
The Vice President finally lashed out against US sanctions, especially the BOLIVAR Act recently approved by the US Congress, and “extremists” which she blames for last week’s explosion and fire of a gas complex.
A report by SP Global said that the production of light crude, upgraded heavy oil, and associated natural gas will be severely compromised until at least February, resulting from the explosion of the Muscar gas complex.
There are still long blackouts of up to 12 hours a day in parts of Eastern Venezuela and Margarita Island, which largely depend on thermal power plants.
