Sawt Falasteen - Repsol says could boost Venezuela oil output over 50% in 12 months

A new bonanza from the South American country's vast oil reserves has been touted after the United States captured its socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro last month in a lightning military operation on Caracas.

The new authorities, led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, have cooperated with US President Donald Trump's administration and introduced reforms to liberalise the sector.

After the United States granted licences to Repsol and five other oil majors, the company's chief executive Josu Jon Imaz said "we are preparing everything to restart and resume our operations."

"We could be able to increase oil gross production in Venezuela by more than 50 percent over the next 12 months," he told a conference call with analysts.

"We have the ambition and we see plenty of room to get this target" of tripling production "within three years", Imaz added.

Venezuela sits on the world largest proven oil reserves and the once-thriving sector helped make it one of Latin America's wealthiest countries in the 20th century.

But production plummeted during two decades of socialist rule, with observers pointing to underinvestment, mismanagement and corruption, as the country plunged into a protracted political, social and economic crisis.

Speaking to AFP in Paris on Tuesday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Venezuelan oil production was "a little bit less than a million barrels a day" in January.

But output could grow by 30 to 40 percent by the end of 2026 -- "that's a big deal," he said.

Imaz said "a new window of opportunity for a better future is opening" in Venezuela, where Repsol has operated since 1993.

E.Aziz--SF-PST