State-owned enterprise | |
Industry | Oil and gas |
Founded | 1976 |
Headquarters |
Caracas, Venezuela Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Key people
|
Eulogio Del Pino, President |
Products | Fuel, natural gas and other petrochemicals |
Revenue | $128.44 billion (2014) |
$15.8 billion (2013) | |
Total assets | $231.1 billion (2013) |
Owner | Government of Venezuela |
Subsidiaries |
PDV Marina CVP Pequiven CIED PDVSA Gas PDV (Deltaven) Palmaven Electricidad de Caracas, C.A. (93.62%) Citgo (100%) |
Website | www |
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, Spanish pronunciation: [peðeˈβesa]) (Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil, as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on 1 January 1976 with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the oil industry of Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
Oil reserves in Venezuela are the largest in the world, and the state-owned PDVSA provides the government of Venezuela with substantial funding resources. The government of Venezuela treats PDVSA as a cash-cow, and the company only hires political supporters of the president. Between 2004 and 2010 PDVSA contributed $61.4 billion to the government's social development projects. Around half of this went directly to various Bolivarian Missions, with the remainder distributed via the National Development Fund. Incompetence has led to serious inefficiencies and accidents.
Venezuela has 77.5 billion barrels (1.232×1010 m3) of conventional oil reserves according to PDVSA figures, the largest in the Western Hemisphere and making up approximately half the total. This puts Venezuela as fifth in the world in proven reserves of conventional oil. By also including an estimated 235 billion barrels (3.74×1010 m3) of tar-like extra heavy crude oil in the Orinoco Belt region, Venezuela claims to hold the largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world. Venezuela also has 150 trillion cubic feet (4.2×1012 m3) of natural gas reserves.
PDVSA has a production capacity, including the strategic associations and operating agreements, of 4 million barrels (640,000 m3) per day (600,000 m³). Officials say production is around 3.3 million barrels per day (520,000 m3/d) although most secondary sources such as OPEC and the EIA put Venezuela's output at least 500,000 barrels per day (79,000 m3/d) lower.