Indian oil shares swing as Venezuela crisis raises fears of crude supply shocks
Shares of Indian oil companies have been volatile over the past three days, after the US removed the president of Venezuela through a military intervention over the weekend. While Indian state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil Corp.
Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd initially rose up to 2.2% on Monday, they fell by 3-5% intra-day on Tuesday.The market seems to be pricing in a spike in crude oil prices owing to prolonged uncertainty and possible supply-chain disruption. On the other hand, the lifting of US sanctions on Venezuela and the formation of a pro-US government there could disrupt the oil market by raising global oil supplies significantly.Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, although of heavy and sour grade.
It has been unable to raise its production due to a lack of technology to extract these inferior grades. Production has in fact dropped to below 1 million barrels per day (mbpd) from close to 3 mbpd until 2015, because of US sanctions.
“A lack of expertise, under-investment, political interference, mis-management, corruption, and then sanctions have paralyzed the exploitation of its oil reserves,” noted a PL Capital report on 5 January.US president Donald Trump plans to push for greater investment in Venezuela’s oil infrastructure to boost production. This could put further pressure on oil prices, which have fallen significantly in recent years, weighed down by rising global supplies and muted demand growth.
Brent crude is now at about $60 a barrel, down from a peak of $93 a barrel in September 2023.“US majors are expected to undertake massive investments to revive Venezuelan production in the medium term. This could weigh on crude prices in
. Read on livemint.com