The crisis between the United States and Venezuela It has the unequivocal background of hydrocarbons. According to estimates from OPEC and the US Energy Agency itself 2025, Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world: about 303,000 million barrels. These numbers represent approximately the 18% of global reserves and they are focused on the call Orinoco Oil Belt. SIt is an extra-heavy crude oil whose extraction requires specialized technology and high costs.. Current production, of about 900,000 per day (bd), is lower than other more expansive moments due to a combination of factors: international sanctions of Washington, mitigated during part of the mandate of Joe Biden and restored by Donald Trumplack of investment, technical problems, operational difficulties and a corruption that has forced the successive dismissals of the PDVSA presidency.
Although the US maintained limited flexibility (licenses that allowed Biden to operate at Chevron and other multinationals and allowed Venezuela to recover part of its economy), the regulatory uncertainty and the sanctions continue to limit massive investments. PDVSA in turn faces chronic problems such as lack of maintenance, talent leaks, shortage of infrastructure and financing.
The Government of Nicolás Maduro affirms that in Venezuela there are about 7,000 tons of gold reserves, between proven and possible, which would also place that country among the first worldwide. However, much of that mineral is not certified by international standards. The deposits are located in the Orinoco Mining Arc (AMO), which has been operating since 2016 following an Executive decree. The AMO was thought by Hugo Chávez as a viable alternative to break Venezuela’s exclusive dependence on oil. In those 112,000 square kilometers that represent 12% of the national territory, national and mixed companies, largely Chinese, but there is also large-scale illegal mining managed by mafias which causes environmental impact in an area of high biodiversity and water reserves.
Control of the “unions”
The NGO Transparency for Venezuela has estimated that 70% of the gold that is extracted leaves the country outside the legal mechanisms towards Colombia and included United Arab Emirates. The consulting firm Ecoanalítico estimated this business at $2,711 million seven years ago. There are frequent complaints of labor exploitation y violence against the 190 existing indigenous communities. As with oil, “legal” production has also fallen due to lack of investment, corruption, sanctions and the same difficulty of the State in eradicating criminal factions. Some areas of the AMO are in fact controlled by armed groups that call themselves “unions” and have a hierarchical structure, Praneswhich resists the Government’s attempts to centralize the activity.
In the AMO there is not only gold, but other precious metals: copper, iron and other minerals, including diamond. His diamond mining It also extends to the Amazon region and the Gran Sabana. The same complications are reproduced there, aggravated by smuggling and operation outside the law.
Venezuela also has potential in several minerals considered critical. for the energy transition, such as coltanwhich is used in electronic devices, telecommunications and aeronautics. As with gold and diamonds, illegal extraction and smuggling to Colombia and Brazil is proliferating. Deposits have been identified bauxite y laterality in the mountains of Falcón, Amazonas and Bolívar, no significant commercial exploitation.
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