PDVSA: Relationship Between The USAd Venezuela

With PDVSA being the largest employer, any troubles that may occur within the business of PDVSA will always result in a large effect to the economy. During 2002, “nearly half of PDVSA’s employees walked off the job” (national geographic) in result of a protest they were holding against the actions that President Chavez was doing as acting manager of the company’s operations. President Chavez then fired all 18,000 employees who walked off in protest. This protest resulted in a drop of 3 million barrels being exported a day to 25,000 barrels. (el universal) By referring to Figure 1 on page 9, one can see the dramatic drop off of oil production in around 2003. Even now, in 2016, the amount of oil being exported has not risen completely back to

The top three leading suppliers for the United States are Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. Venezuela also sends large amounts of crude oil to the Caribbean, with the Caribbean being the second largest importer of Venezuelan oil. The oil relationship between the United States and Venezuela is naturally desirable due to the geographic proximity of the two countries and the fact that the United States has refineries located on the gulf coast – the closest area to Venezuela. This could make coordinating sales and exchanges very easy for both countries. Nearly all of the oil being imported by the United States will be sent to the Gulf Coast refineries. By referring to Figure 2, on page 9, one can see the average number of crude oil barrels imported into the United States from Venezuela. In recent years, the number of barrels imported has declined by almost 50% since 2005. Figure 1 on page 9 illustrates the amount of oil being imported into the U.S from Venezuela during the years 1990 to 2012. The dates where President Chavez took office and where the strike discussed earlier in 2002 took place are marked on the graph. From 1990 to when President Chavez took office in 1999, there was an increase in the amount of oil America was importing from Venezuela. “U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude oil have fallen considerably since they peaked on an annual basis at 1.4 million bbl/d in 1997, when Venezuela was the largest supplier of foreign oil to the United States.” (EIA TODAY IN ENERGY-GRAPH) However, after he took office, the amount being imported has been decreasing slowly. Just after the strike in 2002, there was a dramatic drop in the amount being imported- to below 400,000, but the amount did bounce back to its regular level soon after. With the strike being a result of anger towards President Chavez’s actions, he could be to blame for the lessened oil relationship between the United States and