303 Billion Barrels: Venezuela's Oil and the World's Largest Reserves

Venezuela possesses approximately 17-18% of the world's total proven oil reserves. That's more than Saudi Arabia, more than Iran, more than any other country on Earth. In a world still powered by hydrocarbons, this is extraordinary leverage.

The Orinoco Belt

Most of Venezuela's reserves lie in the Orinoco Belt—a vast deposit of extra-heavy crude in the country's south. The oil is harder to extract and refine than Saudi light crude, but technological advances have made it increasingly viable.

Production, devastated by years of underinvestment, sanctions, and mismanagement, is recovering. 2024 saw output climb to approximately 982,000 barrels per day—still far below the 3+ million bpd Venezuela produced in the 1990s, but trending upward.

Why It Matters for Gran Colombia

Oil is leverage. A confederation that includes Venezuela wouldn't just be resource-rich—it would control a strategic asset that major powers need.

Consider the implications:

• Energy independence: The confederation would never need to import oil
• Revenue: Even at reduced production, oil generates billions in annual export revenue
• Diplomatic leverage: Countries that need Venezuelan oil must engage on the confederation's terms
• Investment attraction: International oil companies would line up to participate in a stable, integrated market

The Transition Question

Petro's clean energy vision seems at odds with Venezuela's oil wealth. How can you build a "carbon-free" confederation when your biggest member sits on 303 billion barrels of crude?

The answer is pragmatic: use oil revenue to fund the transition. Norway has done exactly this—leveraging North Sea oil wealth to build a sovereign wealth fund and invest in renewable energy. Venezuela could do the same.

Oil wouldn't be the confederation's identity. It would be the resource that funds a different future.

The Geopolitical Dimension

U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have been partly about controlling this oil. A Gran Colombia confederation would make such pressure harder to apply. Sanctions on Venezuela alone are one thing; sanctions on a bloc that includes Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama—all with significant U.S. trade relations—are far more complicated.

Integration provides protection. Four countries united have more resistance to external pressure than one country isolated.