Headlines love tossing around Venezuela’s “303 billion barrels” like it’s a magic switch, but the reality is messy, expensive, and slow. Mark and David Pursell, Adjunct Professor of Petroleum Engineering, walk through why heavy oil, busted infrastructure, and shaky politics make this a long-cycle rebuild, not a drill-and-chill moment, plus what to watch in markets when the story sounds too easy.

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Click here to view the episode transcript.

00:00 Intro and why Venezuela is everywhere
02:10 David’s Venezuela background and PDVSA history
07:40 Why production is hard to restart
09:20 Reserves vs resources and the heavy oil problem
12:45 Refining limits and why Canada filled the gap
16:05 Capital, contracts, and what companies actually watch
24:45 Guyana, Argentina, and above-ground risk
29:00 Inventories, OPEC, and where the “surplus” is hiding
37:15 What to watch over the next 18 months
50:10 Saudi data story and why numbers get political
55:20 Teaching, capstone, and wrapping up

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Can Venezuela Replace the Permian? Not a Spigot + What to Watch Next | BDE 01.09.25