Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Venezuela on track for record oil output dropAn oil worker walks past a drilling rig at an oil well operated by Venezuela''s state oil company PDVSA. In the 12 months to June, Venezuela’s crude output fell nine percent to 2.36 million barrels per day (bpd), while the Organization of Petroleum Exploration Countries (OPEC) has boosted its output by four percent, according to the group’s official figures. Venezuela’s oil minister and PDVSA president, Eulogio Del Pino, last month confirmed a 220,000-barrel-per-day production decline — around eight percent — so far this year compared with 2015. However, he said the “circumstantial fall” had been “contained.” The Oil Ministry later said the country’s output rebounded in July to 2.54 million bpd, without giving comparative figures. Energy consulting firm IPD Latin America in May predicted that Venezuela’s crude output will average 2.35 million bpd in 2016, a 400,000-barrel-per-day decline from last year.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald August 16, 2016 00:33 UTC