Former US President Donald Trump has declared that the United States will "run" Venezuela following the capture of its leader, Nicolas Maduro, and intends to exploit the country's enormous oil wealth to sell to other nations.
The Scale of Venezuela's Oil Riches
Venezuela sits atop the largest proven oil reserves of any nation on Earth. According to figures from the Energy Institute, this amounts to roughly 17% of global reserves, equating to a staggering 303 billion barrels of oil.
However, decades of corruption, underinvestment, and sanctions have crippled its production capacity. While output reached up to 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s, it averaged a mere 1.1 million barrels daily last year – just 1% of worldwide production.
Why American Interest is So Intense
The US motivation is deeply rooted in the specific needs of its domestic energy infrastructure. Although America is the world's top oil producer, it primarily extracts light crude oil.
Many of its major refineries, particularly in Texas and Louisiana, are configured to process heavy, gloopy crude. Retrofitting these plants would cost tens of billions, making continued imports of heavy oil a necessity.
This is where Venezuela becomes strategically vital. Alongside Canada and Russia, it holds the planet's most significant reserves of this heavy crude. Mr Trump has framed the potential occupation as cost-neutral, stating the country will be reimbursed from "money coming out of the ground".
Immense Challenges and Industry Response
Analysts warn that realising this ambition faces monumental hurdles. A comprehensive US embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in effect, and the industry's infrastructure is described as "badly broken".
"There are still many questions that need to be answered about the state of the Venezuelan oil industry, but it is clear that it will take tens of billions of dollars to turn that industry around," said Peter McNally of Third Bridge.
The industry's public response has been muted. Chevron is the sole US energy giant still operating in Venezuela, stating it remains focused on safety and regulatory compliance. Other major players like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have not clarified their positions.
Most of Venezuela's reserves consist of heavy oil in the Orinoco Belt, which is expensive to produce but technically straightforward to extract. With China now the primary buyer due to US sanctions, any American-led overhaul would represent a dramatic geopolitical and economic shift.
