By Matthew Robinson
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Oil production by the world's No. 5 crude exporter slid to less than 15 percent of normal levels on Wednesday as a 17-day strike by opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez kept international oil shipments virtually halted.
"We are producing less than 400,000 barrels per day from the entire nation," a spokesman for state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela told Reuters. He said output was not likely to fall further as the company, known as PDVSA, did not want to cut off basic power services.
Many PDVSA executives and managers, oil workers, ship pilots, domestic tanker captains, dock workers and refinery staff have joined the strike, which started on Dec. 2 and has also threatened local gasoline supplies.
The OPEC (news - web sites) nation, which provides more than 13 percent of U.S. oil imports, pumped 3.1 million bpd in November. The disruptions helped push U.S. crude futures to new two-month highs of over $31 a barrel on Wednesday.
Nearly 40 ships were anchored off ports on Wednesday as international oil firms have been cautious to lift cargoes from replacement workers enlisted by Chavez to break the strike. Vessels attended by uncertified pilots or crews would incur insurance risks.
Only a handful of ships, chartered by PDVSA and its international branch, Citgo, have loaded and sailed since the company declared force majeure on exports nearly two weeks ago.
One ship, the Downhill, sailed Tuesday evening from dock eight in the eastern port of Jose, after loading at reduced rates for three days. The Iver Libra oil tanker was then brought to berth.
The government on Wednesday authorized the military to commandeer private ships, if necessary, to distribute fuel and food domestically.
SHUTDOWN
The Cerro Negro project, partnering PDVSA with U.S. oil major ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM - news), shut in all oil production on Wednesday as storage tanks were filled. Cerro Negro normally processes 120,000 bpd of extra heavy oil from the Orinoco region into 108,000 bpd of synthetic crude. Other foreign-backed syncrude projects have shut down as well.
The 335,000 bpd Curacao Isla refinery, which is run by PDVSA, was preparing to stop production at all major units. The plant normally runs about 200,000 bpd of Venezuelan crude, with products primarily exported to Central America and the Caribbean, a spokeswoman said.
"We are going to shut down all our major units, in a very controlled, planned, safe manner, by the end of the week," a refinery spokeswoman told Reuters.
"We have crude until the end of the month, the problem is that our products tanks are full. We are not getting loading nominations from PDVSA," the spokeswoman said.