Repsol to boost Venezuelan oil production

Spain-based oil producer Repsol has announced plans to invest $4bn in Venezuela through 2022 to increase oil output in the region.

The company has invested approximately €1.7bn during first nine months of the year, up by 5% compared to the same period in 2012.

Out of the total spending, 70% was spent on project development. Globally, 36% was spent in the US, 16% in Brazil 14% in Venezuela and 12% in Trinidad and Tobago.

Repsol crude oil assets technical manager Cosme Vargas said that the investments will reach the highest point in 2017.

"The company expects to increase net oil output in Venezuela from around 40,000 barrels a day currently to nearly 100,000 barrels a day by 2022," Vargas added.

Venezuela, the eighth-largest oil exporter in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere, is looking to increase oil production to six million barrels a day by the end of 2019 with additional investments from foreign partners.

---

Image: Repsol headquarters in Madrid, Spain. Photo: courtesy of Luis García.