CARACAS: Venezuela’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum reports that the average price of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week ending February 6 gapped up $5.82 after falling to its lowest since 2009 the previous week.
According to figures released by the Venezuela Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the average price of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week ending February 6 was $44.64, up $5.82 from the previous week’s $38.82.
WTI in New York averaged $49.96 up $4.77 for the week, while Brent crude traded in London averaged $55.28 up $6.45 from the previous week.
According to Venezuelan government figures, the average price in 2015 for Venezuela’s mix of heavy and medium crude is now $41.01.
Venezuela’s average oil price for 2014 was $88.42, down from 2013’s $98.08, 2012’s $103.42 and 2011’s $101.06, but higher than 2010’s $72.43, and much higher than 2009’s average price of $57.01, which the current average is now below.
Venezuela’s basket set its highest weekly average on July 18, 2008, when it hit $126.46 before economies around the world began crashing under the weight of expensive oil and crashing sub-prime debt. By January of 2009, Venezuela’s oil basket had fallen to a low of $27.10 a barrel.
The United States is the largest importer of Venezuela’s oil exports.
According to the US Department of Energy, Venezuela was the fourth-largest supplier of imported crude oil and petroleum products to the United States behind Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. U.S. imports from Venezuela have been on an overall decline in recent years. In 2013, the United States imported 797,000 bbl/d of crude oil and petroleum products from Venezuela, a decline of 49% from a decade ago.
Venezuela sends a large share of its oil exports to the United States because of the proximity and the operation of sophisticated U.S. Gulf Coast refineries specifically designed to handle heavy Venezuelan crude.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that in 2013 net exports from Venezuela totaled nearly 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products, a significant decrease since the peak of 3.1 million barrels per day in 1997.
According to the Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), in the beginning of 2014, Venezuela had nearly 298 billion barrels of proved oil reserves, the largest in the world. The next largest proved oil reserves are in Saudi Arabia with 266 billion barrels and Canada with 173 billion barrels.
