US Oil Companies Seek To Restart Crude Extraction In Venezuela

U.S. oil companies Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford International, whose operations in Venezuela were frozen by economic sanctions, appealed to the U.S. Treasury Department to authorize them to re-start oil drilling in this South American country.

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The new pump seeks to fill a vacuum left by the ban on Russian energy imports after the Ukrainian conflict, which prompted oil prices to exceed US$100 per barrel.

The re-establishment of operations will rapidly increase Venezuelan oil production capacity beyond 1 million barrels per day (BPD) after three years of recession prompted by the U.S. blockade.

This unilateral coercive policy prevents Venezuela from negotiating its oil crude —which represented 96 percent of the country’s income— on the U.S. market. The blockade also sanctions on any non-U.S. person or institution that carries out transactions with Bolivarian oil companies.

Due to the blockade, hundreds of oil companies canceled their assets and withdrew most of their equipment and personnel working in Venezuela. Over a dozen platforms still remain in storage near this Latin American country’s oil fields.

In March, a U.S. delegation discussed with Venezuelan authorities the possibility of restoring energy supplies to counteract the oil price hike stemming from sanctions on Russia.

The dialogue raised the expectations of U.S. largest oil companies, which seek to obtain U.S. permits to bring additional drilling equipment to Venezuela once they are allowed to resume their operations there.