Iran to refine 100,000 barrels of oil per day in Venezuela

Iran will begin refining more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day in Venezuela. The Islamic country will utilize the El Palito refinery now that Iranian technicians have restored the infrastructure which was badly damaged by a fire in 2019.

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji announced on Sunday, October 16, that the technicians' work had been completed. This was according to the country's state-run news agency, and later picked up by Breitbart News. An authorization from the government of Nicolás Maduro is said to be part of the cooperation agreement that both states signed in June for the next 20 years.

20-year agreement

The Ayatollahs' regime has long been one of the main allies and collaborators of the Venezuelan government. For example, Iran has supplied oil to Maduro's Executive since 2020 to compensate for fuel shortages in the South American country. Paradoxically, Venezuela is the country with the world's largest confirmed crude oil reserves.

In addition, the Islamic countries assistance has been fundamental for the Venezuelan oil industry in their effort to recover, following years of neglect and mismanagement by the Chavista government. According to OPEC data, Venezuela produced 3.1 million barrels per day before Hugo Chavez came to power.

The Bolivarian regime, ruin for the oil sector

In 2021, according to OPEC, it reached 558,000 barrels per day. It currently stands at about 659,000 (759,000 now with Iranian crude). Domestic production is even lower than the 714,000 barrels per day average in the second quarter of 2022. The dictator had made a commitment to the oil cartel to reach 2 million barrels of crude oil by this year.

Biden considers easing sanctions on Venezuela

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Biden Administration is considering easing sanctions on the Bolivarian regime with regard to the country's oil. For this, the opening of a dialogue with the opposition and the holding of free elections in 2024 would be an indispensable condition.

In the plan published by the WSJ, the U.S. government "is preparing to ease sanctions on Venezuela's authoritarian regime to allow Chevron Corp. to resume pumping oil there, paving the way for a potential reopening of U.S. and European markets to Venezuelan oil exports."