The Daily Journal.- Oil production in Zulia has maintained steady month-over-month growth despite persistent power outages across the region, with more than 4,000 active wells.
Roy Biagioni, president of the Venezuelan Petroleum Chamber (CPV) in Zulia, reported these figures during an interview with Unión Radio. The industry specialist explained that the Zulia basin contains a significant number of wells classified as level two. He noted that operators can reactivate these wells relatively quickly and that industry teams are currently working toward that goal.
Oil production in Zulia: electricity supply problems could be resolved within a year
Biagioni expects intensive well reactivation through drilling and maintenance rigs to begin taking shape next year. He said the new Electricity Law will open the sector to private participation through self-generation arrangements.
He also noted that higher oil production would enable operators to harness associated natural gas from Zulia’s oil fields. This gas, among the country’s highest-quality resources, could support electricity generation and help restart operations at the state-owned petrochemical company Pequiven.
Meanwhile, oil industry expert Germán Márquez, during an interview with Fedecámaras Radio that the Petroguía website cited, emphasized that Venezuela must resolve its electricity supply crisis to meet the national government’s oil production targets.
He argued that the industry could achieve these goals “when oil production becomes independent of the national electricity grid,” a process that could take between one year and 18 months for companies currently entering Venezuela’s oil production sector.
New projects target 400,000 barrels per day
According to Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, Zulia’s oil production has increased from 70,000 to 370,000 barrels per day. She announced these figures during the closing ceremony of the Second Energy, Oil and Gas Conference (CEPEG 2026).
Rodríguez added that the government aims to reach 400,000 barrels per day by the end of the period, representing an additional increase of 30,000 barrels.
At the same time, Alejandro Betancourt, president of NABEP, inspected the progress of oil projects in Zulia alongside Daniel Kennedy, an adviser to the U.S. Department of State.
Betancourt visited the Bachaquero oil field and announced that the Bachaquero 3 and Ceuta 4 projects could begin contributing to PetroZamora’s oil production within the next four months.
With information from Finanzas Digital.
