Signs of life in Venezuela’s oil sector

Oil production in Venezuela has been showing signs of life, and there is probably scope for further gains in the near term. But it would require a lifting of sanctions and significant investment over many years to bring production back to levels seen a decade ago, which seems unlikely under the current Maduro government. And even if there is an eventual turnaround in oil production, this may only come after global demand peaks for Venezuela’s highly-polluting oil as the world transitions towards cleaner energy. In light of the wider interest, this Latin America Economics Update is being made available to clients of our Energy Service.