Venezuelan oil output to 'plumb new lows' after Maduro win

Venezuela faces another six years of sinking oil production and economic turmoil following President Nicolás Maduro's disputed re-election, according to a BNamericas Intelligence Series report.

Maduro last month won a second term in office in a landslide vote blighted by an opposition boycott and claims of vote-rigging.

The result prompted the US, which has branded Maduro a dictator, to issue a new round of sanctions against the South American country. The European Union has also announced plans for punitive economic measures, describing the poll as "neither free nor fair."

"Even without the impact of the latest US sanctions, the re-election of Maduro spelled deep trouble for Venezuela," the report says. "It guaranteed another six-year cycle of entrenched corruption, incompetence and flagrant abuses of democracy and human rights.

"As a consequence oil production will plumb new lows, foreign investors will keep their backs turned and the economy will continue to convulse."

Venezuelan oil production, which accounts for 95% of the country's export earnings, has fallen by more than 1Mb/d since 2015 amid sinking investment, rampant corruption and an exodus of skilled workers.

'DIRE'

Washington's sanctions, announced the day after the May 20 vote, ban the purchase of debt and accounts receivables issued by Venezuela or its state oil company PDVSA.

US President Donald Trump previously imposed individual and economic restrictions on Venezuela's government for alleged human rights abuses and corruption.

The report says the actions will "make the situation for ordinary Venezuelans more dire". Meanwhile an immigration crisis in neighboring Brazil and Colombia will escalate as Venezuelans are "driven away by hunger, collapsing healthcare, lawlessness and political persecution," it adds.

The full report can be seen here.