Venezuela’s Oil Sector: Reserves, Production Constraints, and Economic Limits

In this paper, we discuss:

• Why Venezuela’s vast oil reserves are economically overstated, given high costs and heavy crude;
• Structural limits to production growth, leaving the sector capital-intensive and slow to scale;
• Why Venezuela remains structurally uninvestable for most global majors, regardless of sanctions relief;
• How debt overhang and Chevron’s unique position will shape any future recovery.

Download PDF: Venezuela’s Oil Sector