"President Donald Trump's push to take control of Venezuela's oil has focused global attention on the South American nation's vast reserves. Trump has repeatedly touted Venezuela's rich oil supply as among the motivations for the January 2 military assault on the country and the capture of its leader, Nicolas Maduro, who has since been charged with drug trafficking and weapons possession."
"In 2024 the country claimed more than 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the highest of any nation. The runners up were Saudi Arabia, with more than 260 billion barrels, and Iran, with more than 200 billion barrels. The global total was 1,566 billion barrels. And the vast reserves are not a coincidence. Geology is very much in Venezuela's favor, says Luis Zerpa, a petroleum engineer at the Colorado School of Mines."
"The story of oil begins when land is pushed up in one region, creating a low-lying basin nearby, Zerpa says. Rock is eroded from the higher-elevation land into the basin, which also fills with the organic remains of plants and animals. Over millions of years, enough material piles up above to raise the temperature and pressure to the point that sediments turn into rock and organic material becomes oil and gas."
The United States push to take control of Venezuela's oil coincided with a January 2 military assault and the capture of Nicolas Maduro, who faces drug trafficking and weapons charges. In 2024 Venezuela claimed more than 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Iran, within a global total of 1,566 billion barrels. Geology gives Venezuela an advantage, with uplift creating basins that accumulate eroded rock and organic remains. Over millions of years, burial raises temperature and pressure to form oil and gas. The balance between oil and gas depends in part on burial depth, with the oil window between 4,000 and 12,000 feet; below that, organic matter more often becomes gas.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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