#Oil Price is +20% from December lows, but prices are pretty much flat at the pump…

Crude #Oil is up 20% in the three weeks from its December lows, yet US #Gasoline prices have barely budged…. 3 Month 6 month 1 year 2 years 3 years 5 years 10 years bit.ly/MasterEnergyBlog

#Venezuela halts free-fall in its oil exports as output -just- recovers

Venezuela produced about 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and exported some 627,000 bpd of oil and refined products in 2021—up slightly from 77-year-low of 623,600 bpd in 2020, but just a third of the 1.89 million bpd tallied in 2016 and well below pre-sanction levels.

Poor condition of most of Venezuela's oil infrastructure has hurt the quality of its exportable crude grades and fuel, creating shipping delays and forcing price discounts, according to internal PDVSA documents.

The country's dilapidated refineries, export ports, power plants, pipelines and flow stations, gas injection plants and vessel fleets need substantial repairs and expansions to increase production in a sustainable way.

Venezuela halts a free-fall in its oil exports as output recovers

By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa

HOUSTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela last year halted the steep drop in oil exports that had crimped state oil firm PDVSA's ability to pay suppliers and sustain output, data from Refinitiv Eikon and tanker tracking showed, ending a four-year free-fall in its top income source.

The OPEC nation, which has been hit with U.S. oil sanctions since 2019 intended to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro, eked out a less than 1% increase in average exports for the year, the data showed. Most of the cargoes have gone to buyers in China, according to Reuters research.