Venezuela has begun to proactively shut in oil production to shut-in nearly replete terminal storage, further accelerating an output decline and bringing the Opec country closer to the psychological barrier of 1mn b/d. According to energy ministry official data communicated to Opec, Venezuela produced 1.533mn b/d of crude in May, up by 28,000 b/d from 1.505mn b/d in April. Average production cited by secondary sources published by Opec pegged Venezuela’s May output at 1.392mn b/d, down by 42,500 b/d from 1.434mn b/d in April. Argus estimates May production at around 1.45mn b/d. State-owned PdV officials consulted by Argus privately dismissed the official tally showing an increase in Venezuela’s output last month. Two PdV upstream executives say that May production averaged about 1.44mn b/d or 93,000 b/d less than the energy ministry’s official figure of 1.533mn b/d. So far in June, the outlook for […]