US Energy Secretary Chris Wright projects Venezuelan oil production will top two million barrels a day by the end of the decade as US ties deepen.
CARACAS: Venezuelan oil production will top two million barrels a day by the end of the decade, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday.
That level represents more than a doubling of production from the time US forces in January seized former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, according to figures Wright cited in an interview with CNBC.
“We started a little bit less than one million barrels a day. Today it’s over 1.2 million barrels a day,” Wright said.
“Venezuelan production will be over two million barrels a day by the end of this decade, so a lot of growth in Venezuelan oil production,” he told the network.
Wright’s comments came ahead of signing agreements later Wednesday that include a deal that grants the United States control of about one-fifth of the country’s reserves.
On Wednesday, US oil major Chevron announced a $7 billion deal through its joint venture with Venezuela’s state oil company to more than double output in five years.
But other US companies, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, have so far not announced new investment after projects were expropriated by Venezuela in 2007.
The US government stake “increases this security and confidence in the rule of the law and the sanctity of contract in Venezuela,” Wright said.
“It’s one thing for a government to expropriate assets of private corporations,” Wright said. “It’s another thing to expropriate assets that are owned by the United States of America.”
