Venezuela Says Oil Output Unaffected After Two Strong Earthquakes

Venezuelan officials said the country’s oil production has not been affected following two strong earthquakes. According to Jin10, Venezuela’s Minister of People’s Power for Oil and Gas, Paula Ehnau, said in a media interview on June 26 local time that oil output remained normal. She put Venezuela’s current average daily crude oil production at 1.2 million barrels. Ehnau said the government had assessed domestic inventory levels and that supplies of natural gas and fuel were guaranteed. She added that operations were running normally and that all oil wells were operating and producing. Separately, feedback from management and oilfield workers at Venezuelan oil companies indicated that oil and gas facilities had not suffered serious damage. Earlier reports said a preliminary assessment showed limited damage to major oil and gas facilities because they were far from cities affected by the earthquakes, although power shortages could affect oil production capacity.