Скачать или смотреть Why Venezuela’s Oil Matters So Much The Hidden History

For more than a century, Venezuela has sat on one of the largest oil reserves on Earth.
And for more than a century, that same oil has shaped its politics, its economy, and its destiny.

This video is not about headlines.
Not about personalities.
Not about the drama of the moment.

It’s about the deeper forces that made today’s crisis inevitable.

From the discovery of oil beneath Lake Maracaibo in the early 1900s, to the rise of foreign oil giants, to nationalization, OPEC, and the creation of PDVSA — Venezuela’s history has been defined by one resource. And that resource created a system where power meant control of oil, and control of oil meant control of the state.

That system produced wealth.
And it produced corruption.
It produced global influence.
And it produced deep vulnerability.

• How oil reshaped Venezuelan politics
• Why PDVSA became a political weapon instead of an energy company
• How U.S. sanctions altered — but didn’t stop — the oil trade
• Why China became Venezuela’s economic lifeline
• And why removing one leader can’t fix a system built on dependency

Because the truth is uncomfortable:

Venezuela’s crisis is not just about Maduro.

It’s about what happens when a nation’s future is tied to a single resource — and when global powers compete to control it.

This is the long story behind today’s headlines.
The story of how oil made Venezuela powerful — and vulnerable at the same time.

Sources referenced in this analysis (public reporting):

Zumaque I (Mene Grande) early landmark discovery (1914)
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vene...
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/oi...

Barroso 2 blowout near Lake Maracaibo (1922)
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/oi...
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vene...

Venezuela top global exporter (late 1920s)
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vene...
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/vene...

1943 Hydrocarbons Law (profit-sharing, concessions revert)
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/vene...
https://www.eprinc.org/wp-content/upl...

Rentier state / resource curse framework
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/vene...

Venezuela founded OPEC (1960)
https://www.opec.org/brief-history.html
https://www.opec.org/venezuela.html

Oil dominates exports (structural dependence)
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/vene...

Nationalization + creation of PDVSA (1976)
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vene...
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/vene...

Orinoco Belt heavy-oil endowment overview
https://www.eia.gov/international/ana...
https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/fs2...

USGS Orinoco estimate (technically recoverable resources)
https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/fs2...
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3042/fs...

Heavy/sour crude challenges
https://globalamericans.org/wp-conten...
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/det...

US Gulf Coast refineries built for heavy crude
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/det...
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/det...

PDVSA strike + mass firings (about 18,000) 2002–2003
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vene...
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/oi...

US imports from Venezuela historical
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/Lea...

US sanctions start (2014–2015)
https://www.state.gov/venezuela-relat...
https://www.federalregister.gov/docum...

Financial sanctions expanded (2017)
https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-p...

PDVSA sanctioned (Jan 2019) + import collapse context
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-...
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/det...

China loans-for-oil (over $60B; 2007–2016)
https://thedialogue.org/analysis/chin...
https://www.stimson.org/2020/chinas-v...

Venezuela displacement
https://www.unhcr.org/us/emergencies/...
https://www.r4v.info/en/refugeeandmig...

EDITORIAL NOTE:
Some operational, sanctions-evasion, and current-output details referenced in this script are supported by contemporaneous reporting from outlets including Reuters and EIA.
Where information was still developing at time of publication, this analysis reflects reported accounts and open-source data available at that time.

Disclaimer:
This channel uses narration and AI tools for presentation. All analysis is original and not affiliated with or voiced by any public figure.