Venezuela To Boost Oil Production Bump With Russian Rosneft Co.

On Monday, Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami defined a work agenda with Igor Sechin, the president of the Russian state-owned Rosneft company, to increase crude oil production and seek new business opportunities for both countries.

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"Cooperation in the energy field with Russia is extensive and profound. We will continue to complement our oil and gas potentialities," El Aissami pointed out after meeting Sechin in Caracas.

The Rosneft president arrived in Venezuela on Sunday to participate in the initiatives that remembered the 10th death anniversary of Hugo Chavez, who boosted cooperation with Russian oil companies.

Since 2006, the Russian government and Rosneft have provided at least US$17 billion in loans and credit. The Russian companies operate in Venezuela under five joint ventures with the state-owned Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA) and produce around 80,000 barrels per day.

Sechin agreed with El Aissami on the importance of exchanging new technologies for boosting Rosneft and PDVSA productions and discussed the prospects of the global oil market with Rafael Tellechea, the head of the Venezuelan company.

At the virtual meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Ministerial Monitoring Committee on Feb. 1, El Aissami acknowledged that imposing sanctions on Russia affects the global energy market as this country is a strategic partner of OPEC.

"The West continues to push politically-motivated sanctions against OPEC countries to affect their economies. However, far from achieving this objective, these initiatives only cause oil market volatility in Western countries,” El Aissami said.