Venezuelan oil production last year averaged 2.991 million b/d, state oil company PDVSA said Friday.
Most of Venezuela's 2011 production came from the Orinoco Belt, with 1.158 million b/d, according to PDVSA's Statistical Recap, an annual report put out by the Ministry of Oil and Mining Friday.
In Venezuela's Eastern region, production averaged with 1.001 million b/d, and the Western region, with 832,000 b/d, PDVSA said.
PDVSA's production figures are not consistent with those calculated by other information sources and oil analysts, which have insisted it produces much less oil. A recent Platts estimate put Venezuelan production at 2.31 million b/d in November.
Venezuela's natural gas production for 2011 averaged 6.813 Bcf/d, while output for natural gas liquids averaged 132,500 b/d, PDVSA said.
At year-end, 19,743 wells were active in Venezuela, the company said.
The report also showed that PDVSA's refining system, which includes a refinery on the Dutch Antillean island of Curacao, processed 1.168 million b/d of crude in 2011, for an overall 87% refinery utilization rate.
In 2011, PDVSA exported an average of 2.472 million b/d of crude and products into international markets, of which 1.067 million b/d were shipped to the US, it said. Another 639,000 b/d went to Asia, 620,000 b/d to Latin America and the Caribbean and 148,000 b/d to Europe.
On the financial side, PDVSA said that in 2011 it took in $127.88 billion of revenues, while its expenses were $122.99 billion, a figure that included purchases of oil and products totaling $40.02 billion.
Crude purchase costs were up by $3.17 billion, or 9%, from 2010, principally due to the rise in oil prices and products in the world market, PDVSA said.
