U.S. lays claim to Venezuela’s oil
President Trump claims assets belonging to U.S. companies were stolen by Venezuela when it took over its own oil industry
Pipelines and oil fields
Refineries
CARIBBEAN SEA
VENEZUELA
Caracas
Puerto José
Amuay
Puerto La Cruz
El Palito
San Roque
Bajo Grande
Maracaibo oil fields
Orinoco Belt
Holds world’s largest oil reserves
COLOMBIA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
GUYANA
BRAZIL
125 miles
200km
VENEZUELA OIL PRODUCTION
(Barrels per day, millions)
3.0
2.0
1.0
1922: Royal Dutch Shell strikes oil at La Rosa field, Maracaibo
1935: Oil makes up over 90% of total exports. Gulf, Royal Dutch Shell and Standard Oil control 98%
1943: Foreign oil companies taxed at 50% of profits
1960: Founding member of OPEC. Oil tax rises to 65%
1973: Oil prices quadruple, up to $100bn lost to corruption
1976: Nationalisation, state-owned PDVSA formed with 22 foreign companies controlling 70% of $5bn industry receiving $1bn
1980s: Oil prices plummet, fiscal austerity leads to riots
1998: Hugo Chávez elected president, directs oil profits to political programmes
2003: Oil industry strike. Thousands of PDVSA workers fired
2007: ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips refuse contract renegotiation, seek $40bn in compensation
2017: Trump issues sanctions on PDVSA
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Compensation (World Bank): ExxonMobil $1.6bn, ConocoPhillips $8.7bn
Sources: Bloomberg, Council on Foreign Relations, World Bank
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