Venezuela’s Oil Today: Reserves, Production, and Recent Events

Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, about 303 billion barrels, but most of that volume is extra-heavy crude in the Orinoco Belt that cannot be produced and sold like lighter crudes. Extracting and marketing Orinoco oil requires upgrading, steam injection, or blending with lighter crude and large capital investment, and those processes have been constrained by years of mismanagement and limited foreign involvement.

Output has fallen from several million barrels per day in past decades to roughly one million barrels a day today, as aging wells and damaged refineries have reduced capacity. International sanctions and a U.S. blockade in late 2025 further reduced exports; shipping firms have avoided Venezuelan ports, PDVSA has stored crude on tankers, and some cargoes were seized. PDVSA remains the state oil company and owns foreign refining assets such as CITGO, which have been entangled in legal disputes.

On 3 January 2026 U.S. forces struck inside Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro, and the U.S. president said the United States would run Venezuela temporarily and involve U.S. oil companies to repair oil infrastructure. PDVSA reported no physical damage to core production and refining sites, but tanker movements and port operations were disrupted, creating immediate logistical challenges.

Nevertheless, even if foreign companies return and new investment flows, recovery will be gradual because extra-heavy crude needs complex processing and because infrastructure has been neglected for years. Consequently, restoring Venezuela to its former output will take significant time, expertise, and capital. International legal and financial hurdles will also delay projects.