Venezuela’s oil industry will likely continue to deteriorate in 2021, with the country’s roughly 300 billion barrels of crude in reserves left largely untapped even if oil prices move higher, according to industry sources. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expanded his power after his political allies won a majority of the National Assembly in a Dec. 6 election. The election has made regime change less likely, and has been condemned by several countries, most notably the U.S., which has imposed harsh sanctions against Venezuela, contributing to a near-crippling of its oil industry. Fuel and electricity supply chains have broken down, while a scarcity of cash, parts and expertise has prevented Venezuela’s deteriorating refinery infrastructure from recovering. Venezuela’s crude output during December averaged around 420,000 b/d. That was down from an average of 1.9 million b/d in […]