Despite a near economic collapse, shattered petroleum industry infrastructure and empty government coffers, Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami continues to talk-up the prospects of the OPEC members crude oil output significantly expanding. In a June 21 interview with Bloomberg El Aissami claimed that Venezuela would quadruple its oil output by the end of 2021. The oil minister further asserted that regardless of U.S. sanctions foreign investment would gush into the founding OPEC member’s petroleum industry and production would eventually recover to such a level that Venezuela would rank among the world’s four largest crude oil production nations. According to El Aissami’s Venezuela will be pumping up to two million barrels of crude oil daily by the end of 2021, which is four times greater than the 500,000 barrels per day produced during 2020. Current circumstances, regardless of El Aissami’s assertions, indicate that the state goal is nearly impossible […]