PDVSA

Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, Spanish pronunciation: [peðeˈβesa]; English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the state-owned oil and gas company of Venezuela. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting of oil, as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on January 1, 1976, with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the petroleum industry of Venezuela, one of the world's largest oil exporters. Oil reserves in Venezuela are the largest in the world, and the state-owned PDVSA provides the government of Venezuela with substantial funding resources. Following the Bolivarian Revolution, PDVSA was mainly used as a vital source of income for the Venezuelan government. Profits were also used to assist the presidency, with funds directed towards allies of the Venezuelan government. With PDVSA focusing on political projects instead of oil production, mechanical and technical statuses deteriorated while employee expertise was removed following thousands of politically motivated firings. Incompetence within the company led to serious inefficiencies and accidents, as well as endemic corruption; at least US$11 billion was stolen between 2004 and 2015. Jorge Giordani, the minister of planning until 2014, estimated that $300 billion was simply stolen. Due to infrastructure and management struggles, PDVSA has seen production decline from 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1990s to approximately 800,000 barrels per day in the 2020s. In 2018, thousands of workers left PDVSA, especially after the company was put under military control.