Venezuela’s president, Nicolas, Maduro, has accepted a U.S. proposal for a new round of talks on local policies and the future of U.S. oil sanctions on Caracas.
“I have received the proposal during two continuous months from the United States government to reestablish talks and direct dialogue,” Maduro said on Venezuelan television, as quoted by the Associated Press
“After thinking about it for two months, I have accepted, and next Wednesday, talks will restart with the United States government to comply with the agreements signed in Qatar and to reestablish the terms of the urgent dialogue,” the Venezuelan president said.
Caracas and Washington have been talking on and off about election reform in Venezuela as a condition for removing oil sanctions but progress has been patchy.
The United States granted a six-month oil sanction waiver to Caracas last year after the two sides discussed election reforms that would have given Venezuela’s opposition a chance in the upcoming vote, to take place on July 28.
However, just months later, the Maduro government effectively banned the opposition’s leader, Maria Corina Machado, from running for office, prompting threats from Washington that the sanctions would snap back.
Following the sanction waiver last October, Venezuela had planned to expand its oil production from below 800,000 bpd to over 1 million bpd. As the sanctions snapped back in April, however, these plans remain in jeopardy.
The May production figure was 822,000 barrels daily, as measured by OPEC secondary sources. This was a slight decline from 825,000 barrels daily a month earlier. This has not prevented government officials from claiming that state-owned PDVSA will soon hit its target of 1 million barrels daily in production, despite the sanctions.
Exports of crude from Venezuela, however, surged in May as buyers rushed to take advantage of a grace period before the sanctions snapped back officially, at the end of the month. During that month, Venezuela exported over 700,000 barrels of crude daily, which was a 30% increase on April exports.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Lead image (Credit: Reuters)
