The Secretary General of OPEC visits Venezuela

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Kuwaiti Haitham al Ghais, visits Venezuela to carry out an “important” work agenda, with a view to strengthening cooperation in the current “times of important challenges.” , reported this Monday the government.

The leader of the organization was received by the Venezuelan executive vice president and Minister of Petroleum, Delcy Rodríguez, with whom he reviewed “the current situation of the international energy market, the operation of the statutes” of the OPEC+ alliance -led by Saudi Arabia and Russia- and the outlook for the hydrocarbon sector, according to a government note.

Through Telegram, the Executive Vice Presidency noted that with this visit the nation hopes to “further strengthen the ties of cooperation” with “this important multilateral organization,” in order to “continue promoting comprehensive policies for the benefit of oil-producing countries.” ».

During the meeting, Rodríguez ratified Venezuela’s commitment to “continue contributing to the stability of the oil market in times of important challenges for the world economy,” according to the state-run PDVSA, whose president, Héctor Obregón, was also at the meeting.

Recently, Obregón said that the oil-producing country – which has the largest proven reserves of crude oil – “actively advocates for stability and global energy balance, through unity and harmonization of shared criteria.”

Venezuela participated in the most recent meeting of the Joint Ministerial Supervision Committee (JMMC) of OPEC+, in which the alliance decided to maintain its plan to gradually increase the supply of crude oil starting December 1, thus undoing part of the strong cuts pumping of the last two years.

Venezuelan oil production fell by 1,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August compared to July, to 927,000 bpd, according to official figures collected by OPEC.

Crude oil pumping has recovered steadily since 2020, when it fell to 569,000 bpd due to the pandemic and sanctions, and reached 783,000 bpd last year..