The price of Venezuelan oil stopped its fall this week, which was maintained throughout the month of March, by earning US $ 3.17 and closing this Friday at US $ 16.91 a barrel, the oil ministry reported.
This slight recovery occurs along with the agreements reached between the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other producing nations to reduce their crude supply by 23% in the face of the crisis in the sector caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agreement, which won Mexican support this Friday, consists of the withdrawal of 10 million barrels per day (mbd) of crude from the market, although Mexico will only withdraw 100,000 barrels per day.
The current sale price of Venezuelan crude is similar to that recorded in 1999 in the country, before the so-called Bolivarian revolution came to power, when it averaged US $ 17 in the middle of a market that was then facing oversupply.
According to unofficial estimates, the average cost of production of the Venezuelan basket exceeds US $ 18 per barrel.
The Venezuelan Oil Ministry, which since 2017 stopped using the dollar as a reference after the financial sanctions that the United States has imposed on the Executive of Nicolás Maduro and instead uses the Chinese currency, reported that the exchange rate used this week was 7.06 yuan per dollar.
As usual, the ministerial report included the price of the other three reference baskets in the oil market, which closed the week with increases in their prices.
The OPEC basket rose to US $ 22.41, compared to US $ 20.87 the previous week.
The WTI closed at US $ 25.18 compared to 21.54 the previous Friday, while Brent crude rose from 25.02 to US $ 32.67 this week.
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