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The recurring and aggressive sabotage of the Petrozamora joint venture, PDVSA's alliance with Gazprom, was intended to damage the relationship with Russia and destabilize the Venezuelan economy through an eventual rupture of the agreement with Moscow.
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That is the preliminary conclusion of the first phase of the investigation that the Venezuelan intelligence has been carrying out since last weekend, resulting in the capture of nine senior officials of the oil industry in the west of the country on Monday.
The investigation carried out under the direction of the Public Prosecutor's Office by DGCIM (military counterintelligence) has determined the existence of a prolonged process aimed at reducing the gas supply required for the extraction of crude oil.
This situation dates back to 2015, according to the complaint filed by representatives of the Russian company. The data indicates that this action was deliberately executed by different actions of the West Division of the state PDVSA and is determined by the allegations that several managers imposed their own contractors win noncompliance with bidding processes.
Likewise, the Russians reported the serious situation of thefts and robberies in the various facilities and gave an example of what happened in April, when criminals seized connectors and other electrical components in the Lagunillas Tierra and Bachaquero Tierra fields. That happened in 65 points of extraction which caused a fall in the production of 3,000 barrels per day.
However, the most damaging incident occurred on Aug. 7, when an attack on the power supply of the flow stations caused production losses of 21,000 barrels a day.
The investigation does not rule out the participation of right-wing factors as catalysts of sabotage. It also assumes that the managers involved may have received offers from the U.S. government to legalize the assets obtained fraudulently, in exchange for providing information that harms the Bolivarian government. These types of actions have been carried out with the support of the manager and intelligence agent Martin Rodil.
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