The fact that a country has the largest oil reserves is not a sign of great wealth

This is a very important post since it helps us reflect on a reality based on what my country has experienced in recent years, where the economic crisis has disrupted all levels, this however occurs in parallel when we are still the country with the largest oil reserves in the world.

I know that many of my dear readers refer to me in their comments that the oil industry is in decline, and I certainly think that they are right in expressing such a statement. Many claim that oil and the oil industry will become extinct, leaving renewable energies behind, however, despite the fact that the oil industry is in crisis due to various factors among which they stand out:

• Low oil prices as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• A period of decline due to the fact that energy derived from hydrocarbons is highly contaminating and contributes to increasing global warming.

However, oil is still today the main source of energy that makes the world we live in work, and until renewable energies manage to replace the so-called black gold in a net, powerful and sharp way, we will continue to depend on it.

Much is said about renewable energies and their benefits, but little is explained about the high costs of producing them and that they do not generate a high amount of energy potential, at least not enough to meet the demands of a society with strong characteristics and a desire to incorporate more and more high technologies that consume more and more energy and resources of the planet.

If we were to put aside this pandemic crisis, perhaps we would have to go back to what happened in 2018 in relation to the high consumption of oil that was held worldwide.

According to data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), daily consumption at the global level was 98.82 million barrels in 2018, a figure that seems quite alarming but, nevertheless, given the high relevance of oil as a raw material for energy generation, the sale of oil and its derivative products is a fundamental part of foreign and commercial policy at the global level.

I believe that it is a necessary evil if we do not change our way of life in relation to how we organize ourselves politically at a global level, we have really entered into a cynicism where we propagate evil while continuing to exploit it.

The cost of oil extraction in many occasions is so high in comparison to the price of the barrel of oil that it is better not to extract it from the subsoil, that is why the title of this post makes us reflect on the idea that it does not matter if we have the largest reserves in the world, since with low prices it is most likely not profitable to be able to exploit it, and even more so if it is oil that is confined in non-conventional deposits, which makes it more difficult to extract.

In the case of Venezuela (my country), we are located in the first place with the largest oil reserves in the world, but unfortunately the geological conditions in which the oil was formed in the Orinoco oil belt makes this oil extra heavy, so the cost for its extraction is quite expensive, and as the low oil prices are, it is something that my country will not be able to get the benefit it would like.

The conclusion of the case is that the example of my country is a case for reflection, so that other countries do not let themselves be seduced by figures of being the country with the largest reserves in the world, since in order for this to help us get out of the economic crisis that we are in, a series of events must arise that will make the price of oil rise again and evaluate the feasibility of its extraction.