IEA: Venezuela's May Oil Output Slightly Higher At 2.36M B/D

Venezuela produced an average of 2.36 million barrels of crude a day in May, a slightly higher level than the previous month, the International Energy Agency reported late Tuesday. The country's average production for May rose 1.7% from April's 2.32-million-barrel-a-day level, the agency said in its latest monthly report. As part of its calculation, the IEA estimated production in the Orinoco heavy-oil projects at 510,000 barrels a day. Sustainable production capacity for the Andean nation now sits at 2.5 million barrels of crude a day. Production has slowed during the early months of the year, in part due to Petroleos de Venezuela SA's decision to bring down production for maintenance work at Petrocedeno, one of its heavy crude upgrading plants. The upgrader has been reported to be operating normally again.