International Energy Agency Increases Venezuela’s Oil Production Estimates, Maybe

Last week, the Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Rafael Ramirez, declared that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has recognized that Venezuela is extracting over 3.0 million barrels of oil per day. This revised figure would be a tremendous coup for the Venezuelan government, which has been maintaining that production is at 3.3. million, not the 2.6 million barrels per day that the opposition and international oil analysts have claimed. While a special section of the IEA’s March 2006 report indeed indicates that in 2005 oil production was close to 3.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2005, all recent IEA monthly reports still indicate a crude production of only 2.6 to 2.7 mbpd. The reason for the lack of consistency in the reporting appears to have its roots in what types of oil are counted and what are not.

Ramirez, in an interview with Union Radio last week, stated that the 3.3 million barrel statistic includes 600,000 barrels of extra-heavy crude a day currently being extracted from the Orinoco Oil Belt, which had not been previously included. According to Union Radio, Ramirez added that the Orinoco oil production, combined with the previous production of 2.6 million equals the officially stated figure of 3.3 mbpd.
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