Oil in place
The total volume of hydrocarbon estimated to exist in a formation. Most of it will never be produced. This is a geological figure, not an economic one.
Proposed entity site — no entity has been formed, registered, licensed or authorized.
Delta Amacuro, Orinoco DeltaReference
Venezuela Oil Reserves
Venezuela is widely described as holding among the largest crude endowments in the world. This page explains what that kind of statement does and does not mean. This entity holds no reserves, no resources and no interest in any of them.
Definitions
Three different things people call reserves
Technically recoverable
The share that current technology could physically extract, disregarding whether doing so makes economic sense. Depends on recovery methods, well design and reservoir behaviour.
Commercially producible
The share that could be produced and sold profitably under real prices, real costs, real infrastructure and real legal access. This is normally the smallest number and the only one that matters commercially.
Headline reserve figures for extra-heavy crude often reflect the broader categories. Because Orinoco-belt crude requires dilution or upgrading before it can be sold, the cost and infrastructure assumptions behind a reserve estimate matter as much as the geology.
Ownership
Who holds Venezuelan reserves
Reserve volumes are not available to be acquired by a private company simply because they exist.
- Under Venezuelan law, subsurface hydrocarbon resources are owned by the state. Private participation, where permitted, occurs through legal arrangements granted by the state — not through purchase of the resource itself.
- Any such arrangement would require Venezuelan governmental approvals and would be subject to change in law, contract terms and political conditions.
- Separately, United States persons and businesses face sanctions restrictions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Some dealings may be prohibited, others may require a specific licence.
- Reserve estimates published by governments, companies and agencies are prepared on differing bases and are frequently revised. Treat any single figure with caution.
Our position
This entity holds no reserves
We publish no reserve estimate, no resource booking and no valuation. This entity has no field interest, no concession, no joint venture participation, no crude allocation and no right to any Venezuelan hydrocarbon. Nothing on this page should be read as a claim to any resource, or as a suggestion that access to one has been obtained or is likely.
General background information only. Not legal, investment, engineering or commercial advice, and not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or interest.