Friday,
July 18
Venezuela PDVSA VP Says Co Can
Sustain Current Output
By Charles Roth, of Dow Jones Newswires
(Dow Jones Newswires) - Venezuela's state-owned
oil company will have "absolutely no problem
sustaining its (current) production" of over
3 million barrels a day, Aires Barreto, PDVSA
vice- president said Friday.
Speaking at a press conference, Barreto dismissed
a recent report by consultants Wood Mackenzie
stating that current output levels can't be sustained
given the tapping of spare capacity that is now
"being utilized to compensate for the loss
in capacity from mature fields in the West"
of Venezuela.
This year's investment budget, Barreto said, "includes
all the money required to ensure that natural
depletion is made up for by more drilling and
rehabilitation of wells."
