New Delhi, January 5 (IANS). Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but despite this, oil production there is very low. The main reasons for this are lack of technical knowledge, low investment, political interference, poor management, corruption and international sanctions. According to a report released on Monday, due to these reasons Venezuela is not able to utilize its oil reserves properly.
A major development was seen at the beginning of the new year, when the US military arrested President Nicolas Maduro and his wife after attacking Venezuela.
PL Capital’s report said that Maduro became president in 2013 and since then he has been taking most of the decisions through ordinances. Due to recent developments, there may be instability in the international oil market for some time.
Swarnendu Bhushan, research analyst at PL Capital, said Venezuela has the largest oil reserves, estimated at 303.8 billion barrels (2020). After this comes Saudi Arabia, which has reserves of about 297.5 billion barrels of oil.
After this, Canada, Iran and Iraq have 168.1 billion barrels, 157.8 billion barrels and 145 billion barrels of oil respectively, which are much less than Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, if seen comparatively, the largest oil consuming country in the world is America, which has oil reserves of only 68.8 billion barrels, which is very less.
Despite having such large oil reserves, Venezuela’s oil production is disappointing. In November 2025, Venezuela produced only 1 million barrels of oil per day. In comparison, about 1 crore 37 lakh barrels of oil were produced daily in America and 97 lakh barrels of oil were produced in Saudi Arabia.
Bhushan said Venezuela’s current production is only one-third of what it was a decade ago.
The report states that in the year 1970, Venezuela was among the world’s largest oil producing countries. At that time, 37 lakh barrels of oil were produced there per day, which was behind America’s 117 lakh barrels per day and the then Soviet Union’s 71 lakh barrels per day, but even at that time Venezuela had an important place after Saudi Arabia’s 39 lakh barrels per day.
The report said there is no magical way to suddenly increase Venezuela’s oil production. Even initial signs of improvement in production may take at least three to six months to appear.
There may be some fluctuations in oil prices in the international market in a short time. A slight increase in oil prices is also possible depending on the reaction of Russia and China.
The report said that due to the price of Brent crude oil being $ 60 per barrel, in the current situation, Indian oil exploration and production companies ONGC and Oil India can benefit. At the same time, oil marketing companies (OMCs) can maintain their earnings due to low oil prices.
However, the report also warns that after the recent increase in tax on cigarettes, tax on petrol and diesel may also be increased. If this happens, oil companies may have to bear the burden. Therefore, in the current situation it has been advised to be cautious regarding investment.
–IANS
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