VENEZUELA CAN UP BY 1 MBD

REUTERS - Venezuela has the ability to boost crude output by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by end of the year in its bid to recover lost production, but the oil minister also said on Friday this goal would be "a challenge" for state oil firm PDVSA.

President Nicolas Maduro said last month PDVSA would aim to boost oil production by 1 million bpd this year, and would seek help from Russia, China and OPEC if needed. Output has plummeted under U.S. sanctions and due to an economic crisis.

"We hope that by year-end, we will have recovered the lost production, we have the capacity to do so, we've said so," Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo told reporters at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna.

"This is a goal for 2018 that is very challenging for PDVSA ... but it's the goal we've set ourselves," Quevedo said.

The minister, who is also head of PDVSA, earlier said Venezuela was pumping about 1.5 million bpd of oil. The country had been producing about 2.373 million bpd as recently as 2016, Thomson Reuters data shows.

PDVSA's oil exports fell 32 percent in the first half of June compared with May, according to internal trade reports from the state-run company, as deepening output declines and seizures of some Caribbean assets disrupted crude and fuel shipments.

U.S. oil firm ConocoPhilips (COP.N) won court orders in May allowing it to seize PDVSA assets as part of a $2 billion arbitration award in its favor. It seized a several crude cargoes and fuel terminals, further disrupting Venezuelan exports.

"The discussions we have with Conoco, we want to further those in the coming weeks," Quevedo said.

"We aren't commenting on any dialogue with PDVSA," - ConocoPhillips spokesman Daren Beaudo.

To meet its commitments to consumers, PDVSA has drawn up a plan to process up to 57,000 bpd of foreign crude in June to fulfil export contracts and reduce purchases of fuels for domestic use.

"We have a recovery plan with the refineries to use the capacity that we have ... we have a lot of spare capacity that we will use as (crude) output increases," Quevedo said.

-----

Earlier: 

2018, June, 22, 13:10:00 THE LARGEST VENEZUELA'S OIL U.S. EIA - Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, in large part because of the heavy oil reserves in the Orinoco Oil Basin. In addition to oil reserves, Venezuela has sizeable natural gas reserves, although the development of natural gas lags significantly behind that of oil. However, in the wake of political and economic instability in the country, crude oil production has dramatically decreased, reaching a multi-decades low in mid-2018.

2018, June, 20, 12:35:00 VENEZUELA'S OIL PRODUCTION DOWN PLATTS - Venezuela's crude output averaged 1.36 million b/d in May, down from 1.41 million b/d in April, and 1.9 million b/d in May 2017, according to S&P Global Platts. The International Energy Agency said it could fall to 800,000 b/d or even lower next year.

2018, June, 8, 12:55:00 VENEZUELA IRAN SANCTIONS BLOOMBERG - Venezuela wrote to fellow OPEC members urging them to unite against U.S. sanctions, echoing a similar letter from Iran, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

2018, May, 21, 11:00:00 IRAN & VENEZUELA SANCTIONS NYT - China and India are the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, but they also provide markets for 40 percent of Venezuelan exports, which have been plummeting under the weight of mismanagement, debt and American financial sanctions.

2018, March, 12, 08:30:00 VENEZUELA'S RATINGS DOWN MOODY'S - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the Government of Venezuela's foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings, foreign and local currency senior unsecured ratings, and foreign currency senior secured rating to C from Caa3. Concurrently, the foreign currency senior unsecured medium term note program has also been downgraded to (P)C from (P)Caa3. The outlook has been changed to stable from negative.

2018, January, 10, 12:45:00 VENEZUELA'S OIL DOWN TO 1.7 MBD PLATTS - Venezuelan crude output plummeted in December to 1.70 million b/d, according to the latest S&P Global Platts OPEC survey released Monday.

2018, January, 8, 19:20:00 U.S. - VENEZUELA SANCTIONS U.S.DT - “President Maduro and his inner circle continue to put their own interests above those of the Venezuelan people,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This action underscores the United States’ resolve to hold Maduro and others engaged in corruption in Venezuela accountable. We call on concerned parties and international partners around the world to join us as we stand with the Venezuelan people to further isolate this oppressive regime.”