Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world

abarrelfull wrote on 24 Jan 2011 12:19
Tags: reserves venezuela

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I have known since I were a small boy, that the largest oil reserves in the world, were laying beneath the sands of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have not always had the highest production levels, but their position concerning reserves was unchallenged.

Now however, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela begs to differ.

In the submission to the National Assembly (AN) of the results of political management, economic, social and administrative affairs of national government in 2010; the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, said that it is recognized worldwide that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, and it is felt that the country has oil for the next 200 years.

This statement should not be seen as an idle boast by a Caudillo whose grasp of reality is shaky at best, because we have seen similar announcements from other sources.

An estimated 513 billion barrels of technically recoverable heavy oil are in Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt. This area contains one of the world's largest recoverable oil accumulations, and this assessment is the first to identify how much is technically recoverable.

Interestingly enough, when the source of the news was a US organisation, the Great Leader was unimpressed. He claimed that it was US misinformation.

These reserves are important, as they represent potential production in a world where conventional resources are declining. Thankfully Venezuela has squandered so much cash, that they now need foreign investment. ENI is an example of one company working to make something of these reserves. They had previously chased out the likes of Exxon, for being nasty capitalist imperialists.

There is no guarantee that history will not repeat itself, which reminds us once again that peak oil is a political issue, not a geological one. As long as countries like Venezuela give open access to international companies, then our oil supply is secure. Iraq shows that the terms can be very tough, making concessions is only necessary due to political risks, and those stem from politicans not oil companies.

If only countries like Mexico would be as open minded.

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Related Pages

• The Perils of Oil Sovereignty
• Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world
• ENI and PDVSA Joint Venture
• Orinoco Reserves Could be the Worlds Largest

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