Venezuela says wants to double oil production next year

• Venezuela, the biggest exporter of oil in South America.
• Venezuela is home to the largest proven oil reserves in the world.
• The country derives almost all its revenues from oil and plunged into crisis in 2014 during a collapse in crude prices.

MOSCOW: Venezuela, the biggest exporter of oil in South America, Thursday announced an ambitious goal of doubling production by 2020 amid an economic crisis and US sanctions.

"We have a plan to return to 2018 (oil production) levels of between 1.5 and 1.6 million barrels a day in 2019," said Venezuela's oil minister Manuel Quevedo at an energy forum in Moscow.

He said Caracas would "target more than 2 million barrels a day in 2020".

In August 2019, its production amounted to 933,000 barrels per day according to official figures quoted by OPEC, down from more than two million in 2017.

Venezuela is home to the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

The country derives almost all its revenues from oil and plunged into crisis in 2014 during a collapse in crude prices.

Caracas is also the target of a large number of US economic sanctions aimed at putting pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, including an oil embargo.

Russia is a key international supporter of Venezuela and has made a number of investments in the country through the oil giant Rosneft.