Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves of ALL countries.. yes, including Russia and Saudi Arabia. If they manage to take full advantage of that, oil prices can dramatically change worldwide.
Those oil reserves are being saved for the rebuilding of the new world economies after the collapse of the current ones.
Reserves of oil in Venezuela quantitatively exceed the reserves of other countries, that`s true. They constitute 17.5% of the world's oil reserves. However, the quality of oil is far from the best because of the high sulfur content and density. Revenues from exports are declining, as a consequence, the level of oil production is falling. Therefore, I don`t think that oil will become a salvation for Venezuelans and the basis for creating a new economy. I think that the government of the country should also bet on other types of extractive industry: there are large deposits of iron ore, bauxite and coal in the country.
I'm not technically aware of the quality of their oil, but I know that it costs too much to build the infrastructure. Many countries invite huge companies to invest in their petrol sector and they benefit from new techs, infrastructure etc. However, I don't think that Maduro will allow foreigners inside. This means that they have low chances to develop something as they are lack in funds.
