US capture of Maduro throws spotlight on Venezuela’s massive oil reserves

By Fox News · Fox News

In the predawn hours on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced the stunning capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — a dramatic development for a nation that, despite sitting atop the world’s largest oil reserves, has been hobbled by years of economic collapse and political turmoil. Trump accused Venezuela’s socialist government of seizing American energy assets and dismantling an industry built with U.S. investment. "Venezuela unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars," Trump said during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. "They took all of our property." FOLLOW FOX NEWS LIVE COVERAGE OF VENEZUELA "We built Venezuela’s oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us," he added. Trump added that U.S. energy companies would play a key role in rebuilding the Latin American country’s oil sector. "We are going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure and start making money for the country," he said. Roughly twice the size of California, Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves . At an estimated 300 billion barrels, about 20% of the global total and nearly four times U.S. reserves, that endowment dwarfs that of any other nation. Much of that oil, however, is difficult and expensive to produce. Venezuela’s reserves are dominated by heavy and extra-heavy crude that requires specialized equipment, constant maintenance and advanced refining capacity — much of which has deteriorated after years of underinvestment and skilled labor losses. ‘WE BUILT VENEZUELA’S OIL INDUSTRY:’ TRUMP VOWS US ENERGY RETURN AFTER MADURO CAPTURE Beyond technical challenges, Venezuela’s crisis-stricken economy and persistent political instability have further limited its ability to convert those reserves into sustained production. Similar dy…