
Venezuela possesses the largest proven oil reserves on the planet—over 300 billion barrels, significantly more than Saudi Arabia. Yet, its oil production has collapsed from a peak of over 3 million barrels per day (bpd) in the late 1990s to roughly 1 million bpd today.
This was not an overnight accident. It was a slow-motion dismantling of a world-class industry. Here is the detailed breakdown of how it happened.









