Venezuela state oil company mass desertions: Maduro threatens prison if they don't show up

PDVSA in free fall: no production and workers deserting, which revealed Platts report
Posted on February 7, 2018by Caraota Digital

translated from Spanish



Growing debts, the collapse of equipment and infrastructure and the massive resignations of workers have led Petróleos de Venezuela to a decades-old backward movement and experts say they see little prospect of any change.

According to its Platts website , Venezuelan oil production fell to 1.70 million b / d in December, according to the latest OPEC survey S & P Global Platts. The level of production represented a decline of 100,000 b / d since November and a minimum not seen in more than 15 years, when a major strike hindered production between December 2002 and February 2003.

Not counting the months affected by the strike, Venezuela's production was so low in August 1989, more than 28 years ago. Sources in the country say that the new PDVSA president, Manuel Quevedo, a brigadier general of the National Guard who was also named the country's oil minister in November, fired several high-level officials of the company in an alleged purge of corruption at the end of the year and these people have yet to be replaced.

PDVSA also faces internal protests and widespread resignations to refinery personnel who fear a serious accident, as security protocols are not being followed, added the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Several market observers have put Venezuela at the top of its geopolitical risk lists, with the economic crisis and the PDVSA problems that are expected to continue, if not accelerated, amid threats of new US sanctions....

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http://www.caraotadigital.net/carrusel/pdvsa-en-caida-libre-sin-produccion-y-trabajadores-desertando-lo-que-revelo-informe-de-platts/

Weekly explosions at various refineries (Maduro blames this on saboteurs**, not crumbling infrastructure, lack of maintenance and NO QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES) and lack of food on rigs have basically doomed PdVSA. And once Maduro replaced the oil people with Chavista lackeys who know NOTHING about the industry, its ability to pump its sludge won't last long.

**He loves to blame iguanas for electrical outages too... when he can't find some nearby feckless employee to blame for sabotage. He recently blamed some now deceased electrical workers for sabotage when they went out to fix the electrical grid that was down (daily occurrence)... and the Chavistas turned on the power while they were fixing the cables because Maduro was going to speak on TV and the power NEEDED TO BE ON!