If allowed to resume work, Venezuela might rapidly increase production capacity beyond 1 million barrels per day (bpd), analysts said, quoted by Archyde.com.
The new supply might also fill a gap left by a US ban on Russian energy imports from its invasion of Ukraine that has helped drive crude prices above $100 a barrel.
Schlumberger (SLB.N), Halliburton (HAL.N), Baker Hughes (BKR.O) and Weatherford International (WFRD.O) have been barred since 2019 from helping Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA and its joint ventures produce oil. Any relaxation by the US Treasury Department of a restricted license the four companies share with Chevron Corp (CVX.N) might allow them to expand their operations.
Since the United States first imposed oil trade sanctions on Venezuela, many companies have withdrawn equipment and personnel and written off hundreds of millions of dollars of their assets there. But more than a dozen rigs remain in storage near the country’s largest oil fields.
A high-level meeting last month between US and Venezuelan officials opened the door to a possible return of Venezuelan oil to the United States. The sanctions were first imposed in 2019 to choke off oil exports and deprive Caracas of its main source of income in its bid to see President Nicolás Maduro ousted.
The talks coincided with Washington’s ban on imports of Russian oil, a measure that will take effect this week, which might hurt US refineries and contribute to rising fuel prices.
Oil companies that still have a presence in Venezuela might quickly reactivate equipment in the country, the sources said, which might revive crude production, which remains at 40% of pre-sanction levels.
