SLB has signed a long-term contract with Venezuela’s PDVSA to reverse a major decline in oil production and modernize the country’s oil industry.
“Venezuela’s oil and gas sector has substantial resource potential, and realising that potential will require technology, digital integration and long-term talent development,” SLB chief executive Olivier Le Peuch said in a company statement this week. The focus of the modernization push would be artificial intelligence, the statement also said, aiming to digitally transform Venezuela’s oil industry using predictive models, connected data, and AI-driven workflows.
Earlier this year, following the United States’ effective takeover of Venezuela’s oil sector, Le Peuch said that he was “confident that with appropriate licensing, safety parameters, and compliance measures in place, we can rapidly ramp up activities in support of the oil and gas industry in Venezuela.”
U.S. energy majors have shown mixed feelings about returning to Venezuela, with Exxon even calling it “uninvestable” earlier in the year, while others signaled they were eager to return under the new circumstances. Indeed, last month Exxon appeared to have changed its mind, with the New York Times reporting the company was in talks for acquiring the production rights to as many as six fields in the South American country.
In the past two months, Venezuela has boosted its oil exports to a seven-year high and is set to further ramp up shipments as U.S.-controlled sales, easing sanctions, and returning international firms lifted the country’s oil production. The May average in exports stood at 1.25 million barrels daily, up by a significant 66% from a year earlier.
The United States remained the top buyer of Venezuela’s crude, taking in about 558,000 bpd in May, followed by India with 427,000 bpd and Europe with 169,000 bpd. Shipments to all three regions rose in May from April levels.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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