RPT-UPDATE - Venezuela oil exports flat, 1.14 mln bpd-opposition
Wednesday March 12, 5:16 pm ET
(Adds background on product imports in paragraph 7)
CARACAS, Venezuela, March 12 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil and product exports, recovering from a two-month oil strike, held steady at 1.14 million barrels per day in early March, compared with levels last month, a report by rebel oil workers said.
Venezuela shipped 1.013 million bpd of crude during the first 11 days of the month, plus an additional 129,000 bpd of products, according to a report by state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) employees fired for their participation in the anti-government strike started Dec. 2.
The government, which enlisted replacement workers and troops to restart the industry during the strike, said this week that exports in February averaged 1.132 million bpd.
Normally, the world's No. 5 crude exporter, Venezuela shipped nearly 2.7 million bpd of oil and products in before the stoppage.
Chavez announced last week that rising exports had allowed Venezuela to lift force majeure on crude exports, declared in the first week of the strike. A separate force majeure, invoked when a supplier cannot fulfill its contractual obligations, for exports of gasoline remains in place.
PDVSA hopes the full return of its giant 940,000 bpd Amuay- Cardon refinery will allow product processing and exports to return to normal. A plant spokesman said on Wednesday Amuay-Cardon was processing 600,000 bpd, while rebel PDVSA employees say runs are closer to 500,000 bpd.
The OPEC nation has been forced to import gasoline since the strike began, but PDVSA officials say Venezuela will become self-sufficient once Amuay-Cardon is fully returned in the next week. South America's largest oil producer bought 12 million barrels of gasoline last month to help cover domestic demand of 200,000 bpd. |
