Visualizing Venezuela's Incompetence in Oil Production
Despite holding the world's largest oil reserves, Venezuela produces as much as Ecuador, with 3% of its reserves.
Venezuela is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves, commanding 18% of the global total. At its peak this century, the country produced 3M+ barrels daily. Nowadays, it outputs about as much oil as Ecuador, which has roughly 3% of the proven oil reserves of Venezuela.
How did Venezuelans end up here?
Put simply: short-sightedness. By 2003, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had put the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, through the wire, firing capable employees and replacing them with loyal cronies to his authoritarian rule. Even after Chávez’s death in 2013 and the worldwide collapse of oil prices, the poor decisions continued, as the government failed to reinvest much-needed capital to keep the industry alive.
The final nail in the coffin came in 2019, when Maduro was classified as an illegitimate dictator in the eyes of democracies worldwide, which led to heavy sanctions being imposed.
"Tragedy" is the only word to describe the effects this mismanagement and outright theft has had on the country's economy. In the mid-20th century, Venezuela was considered Latin America’s most prosperous nation, boasting a GDP per capita on par with many European countries.
But the sad story doesn't end with simply economic consequences. The country’s ruinous infrastructure harms marine life and the atmosphere, even more than the burning of fossil fuels usually does.
Some hope?
Some sanctions have been lifted in recent months, led by US President Joe Biden, who likely decided that buying Venezuela's oil was less evil than Russia's for now. For his part, Maduro started a "crackdown" on widespread corruption in PDVSA as the country tries to keep up with the new demand. However, until democracy is restored in the country, we're afraid that Venezuela's oil benefits will remain short-lived.
This week’s opportunity:
Mercado Libre posted 11 jobs in the last week located in Brazil 🇧🇷
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But the narrative of calling our region's people "useless" goes against everything we believe in.