Venezuela is home to the world’s largest oil reserves. Venezuela holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, even more than Saudi Arabia. “American companies, of course, would be tantalised by the opportunity to return to a neighbour with the world’s largest oil reserves,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy and a former adviser to George W Bush. But it would take much longer for any extra oil production to be brought on line and volumes could be modest. Analysts said with hefty investment Venezuelan output could potentially double in the coming decade – still less than half Texas’s oil production.

Source: The Irish Times January 04, 2026 20:31 UTC