Production from 32 foreign-operated Venezuelan oilfields has fallen at least 25,000 to 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year as companies curtail investment ahead of government-ordered contract changes set for January 1.

Output from the fields has slid from around 550,000 bpd at the start of the year after the government cut budgets for the projects and ordered the operating agreements changed to joint ventures with state oil firm PDVSA by January 1.
“No company is going to invest money now to increase production rates because at the end of the year the contracts are going to change and we don’t know if any of the investments carried out at this moment will be compensated by PDVSA,” said one local oil sector expert.
The government ordered the operating contacts with 22 private companies to be converted to joint ventures because it says PDVSA is losing money funding the production under the current structure.