A blackout struck a major Venezuelan oil refinery, crippling operations at a time when oil production had appeared to be stabilizing. It’s been an odd few months for Venezuela, where events have receded from the front pages of major news outlets around the world. The American-backed coup effort by Juan Guaidó has failed, and President Maduro seems entrenched in power, even if the country’s economic, political and humanitarian crisis grinds on. More recently, however, the one thing that has stabilized is the country’s oil production, although at historically low levels. After plunging in the first two months of 2019, following the introduction of U.S. sanctions, production has largely been stable since March. Venezuela produced 1.15 million barrels per day (mb/d) in January, but spiraled down to just 732,000 bpd in March. Against the odds, production leveled off and even rebounded slightly, rising to 760,000 bpd in June, according to […]