Venezuela is one of the five countries that formed OPEC and holds the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world

Background

The U.S. Energy Information Administration records that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, also known as OPEC, was formed in 1960 by Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, and that the organisation has since expanded to 13 members. Of those five founders, Venezuela is the only one in the Americas.
The same agency records that Venezuela had the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world in 2023, with approximately 303 billion barrels, accounting for approximately 17% of global reserves.
Reserves on that scale do not translate into output. Despite the sizeable reserves, Venezuela produced 0.8% of total global crude oil in 2023.
The reason lies in the nature of the deposits. Most of Venezuela's proven oil reserves are extra-heavy crude oil from the Orinoco Belt, which makes the crude somewhat expensive to produce, and the agency records that the extraction of extra-heavy crude oil requires a higher level of technical expertise. The Orinoco Oil Belt is spread over 19,000 square miles and is divided into 36 blocks within 4 exploration areas, Boyaca, Junin, Ayachucho, and Carabobo.
Venezuela also has reserves in and around Lake Maracaibo in the western part of the country. State policy requires the national oil company to hold at least 60% equity in joint ventures with foreign firms.