WO) – North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) said production from its Petrozamora oil fields in Venezuela hit a record 115,000 bpd on Oct. 23, during a two-day visit by U.S. State Department officials. Chargé d’Affaires John M. Barrett and Daniel Kennedy, deputy assistant secretary of state for energy and critical minerals, toured the company’s operations in western and eastern Venezuela on Oct. 23 and 24.
On Oct. 23, Kennedy joined NABEP CEO Alejandro Betancourt and PDVSA leadership at the Bachaquero field on Lake Maracaibo. They inspected the Bachaquero Lago 2 compression module and checked on Bachaquero 3 and Ceuta 4, two projects expected to add production within four months. The next day, Barrett and Kennedy visited NABEP’s Junín 10 block, formerly known as Junín Sur, in the Orinoco Belt, where most of the company’s new drilling is taking place. Three drilling rigs are working there, and three more will start soon, including a sixth rig that recently arrived. NABEP also runs 13 workover rigs, with 15 more on the way.
“Less than two months after this historic agreement was announced, our partner NABEP has already ramped up its oil production and brought in new rigs from the United States,” Barrett said. “American rigs are putting Venezuelans to work, and Venezuelan oil is strengthening America’s energy security.”
NABEP’s total hydrocarbon production reached 223,509 boed as of Oct. 19, up from about 18,000 bpd two years ago. The company said it reached that level with about $1 billion of its own investment and is now reinvesting hundreds of millions of dollars each month. Earlier this month, NABEP deployed 11 new workover rigs and received two new drilling rigs. “There are real challenges ahead. Some of these fields have been producing for decades, and others have never been drilled,” Betancourt said.
The visit follows NABEP’s August agreement with the U.S. departments of State and War, which covers 17 fields and 65 Bbbl of reserves. NABEP says it is targeting more than 1 million bpd in the near term, though it has previously cited a goal of 500,000 bpd by 2028. Venezuela expects nearly $76 billion in oil and gas investment over the next five years.
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