Production has declined very sharply since 2015, falling to about 1.2 million barrels per day by early 2019. The output of crude is about one-third as high as in 1998, when the late president Hugo Chávez was first elected.
Venezuelan oil production in million barrels per day
The sharp decline in production in late 2002 and 2003 arose due to an oil stoppage organized by opponents of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez.
