Venezuela is often described as a country that “sits on oil but lives in poverty.” And that’s not an exaggeration. It holds some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves - even more than Saudi Arabia, DKNews.kz reports.
But years of sanctions, political turmoil and crumbling infrastructure have turned this wealth not into salvation, but into a bargaining chip.
Why Washington cares again
Today’s oil market lives in constant tension:
- Middle East instability
- supply risks
- volatile prices
Against this backdrop, the Venezuelan factor is back on the agenda.
And there’s an important technical detail.
Many U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast are designed to process heavy crude. And Venezuelan oil is exactly that.
So before sanctions, Venezuela was one of the key suppliers to the United States. Sanctions changed the flows, but the demand for heavy crude did not disappear.
Between sanctions and pragmatism
Washington is walking a very thin line: on one side political pressure on Nicolás Maduro, on the other clear energy interests and the need for stable supplies.
Any easing of sanctions:
- strengthens Caracas
- calms the market
- gives the U.S. another source of heavy crude outside the Middle East and Russia
That’s the paradox.
Maduro’s strongest card
For Caracas, oil remains the main lever.
Without investments and access to markets, production is limited. Yet even a partial return of Venezuelan crude to global chains:
- shifts the balance inside OPEC+
- cools price growth
- changes negotiation power for many countries
That is why every piece of news from Venezuela instantly shows up on oil charts.
Not ideology anymore
What once looked like a struggle of: “democracy vs. dictatorship” increasingly resembles tough bargaining around energy.
For Washington, oil is a tool of pressure. For Caracas, oil is a way to survive and regain influence.
And energy remains one of the very few channels through which dialogue can cautiously restart.
