Venezuela’s production plummeted again in May, by 42,500 bpd from April to below 1.4 million bpd—1.392 million bpd, according to OPEC’s secondary sources in its latest Monthly Oil Market Report published earlier this week. According to the United States EIA, Venezuelan production was 1.43 million bpd last month, down from 1.46 million bpd in April and from 1.98 million bpd in May of last year. Lejla Villar, who works on projections for EIA’s monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), currently expects Venezuela’s production to fall to 1 million bpd in the second quarter of 2019, but she is waiting to see June export numbers from Venezuela—if they are low, Venezuelan production could sink to 1 million bpd sooner than that. “If the worst-case scenario for June production comes true, then we could see Venezuela’s production fall to 1 million b/d sooner,” Villar told Platts. “Depending what June does, […]