Goldman Sachs Sees Venezuela Crude Output Rising, But Return to Pre-2018 Levels Unlikely

Goldman Sachs expects Venezuela’s crude production to edge higher, but does not see output returning to pre-2018 levels of more than 2 million barrels per day over the next few years.It said in a note that key bottlenecks, including degraded infrastructure and an unreliable power grid, will be costly and time-consuming to fix.

* Several international energy firms, including Eni, GE Vernova and Chevron, committed on Wednesday to project expansions to boost oil output in Venezuela, in a signing ceremony in Caracas overseen by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

* The deals are separate from a Caracas-Washington deal recently unveiled that gives the U.S. access to 17 oilfields.

* Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its current output is only about 1.25 million bpd, down from the more than 3 million bpd it achieved two decades ago, following years of mismanagement and underinvestment by state-run oil firm PDVSA.

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)