Venezuela Imports Crude for the First Time in Five Years
- PDVSA buys light, sweet Nigerian oil as domestic output falls
- Oil production sank to 16-year low after sanctions, outages
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg
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Oil production in Venezuela has dipped so low that the owner of the world’s largest reserves is importing crude for the first time in five years.
The nation’s output fell below 1 million barrels a day to a 16-year low in March, amid rolling blackouts and U.S. sanctions. As the power disruption shut oil fields, pipelines and ports, bringing oil infrastructure to a halt, state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA bought a cargo of crude from fellow OPEC member Nigeria, marking the first oil import since 2014.