The past and potential of Venezuela’s oil sector, and what it means for Canada

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CALGARY — U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambition to have U.S. energy companies swoop in and revive Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry has raised questions about what it means for Canadian oilsands producers and whether it’s a task American supermajors can or even want to take on.

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Here is a rundown of the past and potential of Venezuela’s energy sector:

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There’s a gargantuan amount of oil in the ground.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that as of 2023, Venezuela had 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves _ 17 per cent of the world’s total and the largest of any country.

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Venezuela holds greater reserves than Saudi Arabia, the second largest, and Iran at No.3. Canada has the world’s fourth largest proven crude oil reserves at 163 billion barrels, the vast majority in Alberta’s oilsands, Natural Resources Canada says.

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Pumping that oil out of the ground is another matter.

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As in the oilsands, Venezuelan crude can’t simply gush out of a hole in the ground. It’s considered extra-heavy, meaning it takes more work to make the sludgy, sticky oil thin enough to flow through a pipeline. It also requires extra processing and specialized equipment to refine into products like gasoline and diesel.

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Canadian oilsands crude faces many of the same challenges, a reason it sells at a discount to light oil like that produced in Texas. But Venezuela’s industry has been hampered by budget constraints, crumbling infrastructure and lack of qualified workers who know how to work with the tarry oil.

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As of November 2025, Venezuela reported production of 1.14 million barrels a day, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Canada Energy Regulator says this country’s production far eclipses that, hitting a record of 5.13 million barrels a day in the first six months of 2025.

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Venezuela used to be a top oil supplier to the U.S., but it’s been mostly shut out. Enter Canada.

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In the mid-1990s, the U.S. was the largest importer of Venezuelan crude, the EIA says. Refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast were set up to handle that heavy oil. This was before fracking technology unleashed huge amounts of light oil from Texas shale.

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The United States has a history of sanctioning Venezuela, but ones levelled against its state oil company in 2019 all but halted exports to the U.S. Canadian supplies have in recent years been filling some of the gap, with about 400,000 barrels a day now able to flow to the lucrative Gulf Coast market. That’s a fraction of the 4.4 million barrels a day Canada exported to the U.S. overall as of October 2025 (most goes to the Midwest, where refineries are also geared for heavy crude).

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As of 2023, China received more than two thirds of Venezuela’s crude exports, the EIA says.

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U.S. sanctions were eased somewhat in 2022, enabling Chevron to resume exporting crude from joint-venture operations it has with Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm. Imports from Venezuela to Gulf Coast refineries picked up again in 2023 in relatively small amounts _ about 135,000 barrels per day as of October 2025.