The Annual Statistical Bulletin of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) provides insights into Venezuela’s oil figures that are not available within the country itself due to Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) ceasing to publish its management report since 2016.
The data corresponds to 2022, and the sources from which they are obtained are diverse, including PDVSA itself, although not specified in each case. However, these numbers allow us to see the situation of the national oil industry.
Venezuelan oil exports
The figures show that in 2022, revenues from oil exports reached $15.379 billion, a 74% increase compared to 2021, marking a second consecutive year of growth. These figures need to be analyzed carefully in light of the corruption acknowledged by the government.
The increase occurred despite a 2.2% decline in the volume of exported oil, which reached 438,173 barrels per day in 2022, marking the seventh consecutive year of decline and the fourth year below one million barrels.
Production and demand for gasoline in Venezuela
Gasoline shortages remain one of the recurring problems in the country, and OPEC’s data clearly shows the collapse in the production of derivatives. Venezuela produced 46% more gasoline last year (83,000 barrels per day). However, this figure is 80% below the peak reached in 2010 when 411,000 barrels per day of fuel were refined.
OPEC also points out that this quantity is insufficient to meet the increased demand, which rose to 84,000 barrels per day from the 65,000 barrels per day in 2021 (a figure revised downward from the previous report, which placed it at 119,000 barrels per day).
Overall, refining fell by 1.6%, with a production of 266,000 barrels per day, reaching a new minimum, at least in the last 40 years, according to OPEC data.
Where does Venezuela export its oil?
The sanctions imposed by the United States in 2019 on the commercialization of Venezuelan oil forced PDVSA to seek other ways to export crude oil, which involves significant logistical efforts and the need to find customers in other parts of the world. The OPEC report indicates that the main destinations now are China and “other countries in Asia.” Additionally, the European market is making a comeback.
In total, 438,200 barrels per day were exported in 2022, a 2.2% decline compared to the previous year and a 78% collapse compared to 2015, the best year for oil exports since Nicolás Maduro’s government took office (in terms of volume).
Over half of these 2022 exports (284,000 barrels per day) went to “other countries in Asia,” while 100,000 barrels per day ended up in China (a 2% decrease compared to 2021). Shipments to Europe increased from zero to 15,000 barrels per day, while destinations in Latin America saw a 27% increase, reaching 33,000 barrels per day. The report does not provide further details on the destinations.