According to a report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela’s oil production has increased by 10% in February, reaching 1.02 million barrels per day (bpd). This represents an increase of 97,000 bpd compared to January, during which average oil output was reported at 924,000 bpd.
December 2025 and January 2026 oil production was heavily impacted by the illegal military operation led by the US empire seizing oil tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, which affected storage limitations and production output. As a result, oil production in the second month of 2026 was 99,000 bpd lower than the average pumping at the end of last December, which reached 1.12 million bpd, according to official data in the report published this Wednesday, March 11.
La @OPECSecretariat confirma lo que todos estábamos esperando: que en febrero ocurrió un incremento importante en la producción petrolera de Venezuela.
La variación coloca la producción en 903.000 bd (fuente secundaria) o 1.021.000 bd (fuente primaria).
Ninguna sorpresa. Buenas… pic.twitter.com/RDmMFZdOl5— Luis Oliveros (@luisoliveros13) March 11, 2026
Expectations point to an acceleration of oil production during the remainder of 2026, following the promotion of the Partial Reform of the Hydrocarbons Law on January 29. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez explained that the law “allows us the true historical qualitative leap to convert those oil reserves, the largest on the planet, into the greatest happiness on the planet that a people can have, and that the Venezuelan people be the owners of that happiness,” referring to the nation continuing to develop its sovereignty and self-sufficiency.
Following the January 3 US military invasion—in which US troops bombed populated areas of Caracas, Miranda, La Guaira, and Aragua states, killing more than 100 people and also kidnapped constitutional President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Deputy Cilia Flores—the Donald Trump regime issued a series of licenses easing a number of sanctions. These sanctions had been imposed for more than ten years against Venezuela in an effort to destroy the Venezuelan economy and provoke regime change.
Following the US bombings, oil relations between the two nations have strengthened as a result of what many analysts label as Venezuelan diplomacy under duress, with the US imposing harsh conditions on the Chavista leadership still in control of the state.
Since the late Commander Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999—a path later continued by the constitutional head of state, President Nicolás Maduro—Venezuela has been open to oil relations with the US empire and any other country. Under current conditions, the US appears, at least on the surface, to have greater control over many areas of the oil business, although analysts note the power of the Chavista leadership to force the US entity to negotiate with them.
(Diario Vea) by Olys Guarate with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.