Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Rapidly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman.
Over the previous couple of weeks oil—particularly, Venezuelan oil—has been all around the headlines.
It began late on January 2, when President Donald Trump ordered U.S. navy forces to enter Venezuela and seize the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, which they did early the subsequent morning. Final week the nation’s inside minister mentioned the motion killed 100 folks.
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Within the intervening weeks President Trump has made clear that at the least a part of his motivation for the operation was the nation’s oil fields, that are house to an estimated 303 billion barrels of oil reserves, extra oil than Saudi Arabia or every other nation on this planet.
To dig into the scenario we spoke with Amy Westervelt, a local weather reporter and govt editor of the multimedia local weather reporting undertaking Drilled. We talked to Amy about why Venezuela has a lot oil, the historical past of the nation’s oil business and the way this obsession with oil is impacting local weather change.
Thanks for becoming a member of us.
Amy Westervelt: Thanks for having me.
Pierre-Louis: You maybe know extra about oil in South America than every other local weather reporter I’ve met. What acquired you interested by it?
Westervelt: Really, Guyana is what acquired me [Laughs] serious about it. So I acquired this press launch from Exxon[Mobil] in, I wanna say, 2020 that mentioned that Guyana was going to be their best basin throughout the subsequent 5 to 10 years, that it might outpace even the Permian Basin in Texas. And I assumed, “How did they go that large that quick?”
After which shortly after that I acquired some press releases from an lawyer that had filed varied circumstances in Guyana attempting to cease the offshore undertaking and arguing that a part of the rationale that they’d moved so quick was that they’d ignored varied environmental laws.
So these two issues type of got here in the identical week, and I assumed, “Oh, that is actually fascinating, and I haven’t actually seen a lot about it.” So I began working with a reporter in Guyana after which going forwards and backwards myself to report on this, like, new oil business that was being created in, you realize, 2020.
Pierre-Louis: Okay, we’ll get again to Guyana, I promise.
Westervelt: [Laughs.]
Pierre-Louis: However earlier than we get there …
Westervelt: Yeah.
Pierre-Louis: As you realize the Trump administration lately invaded Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, below allegations of drug trafficking. Your latest article in Drilled mentions entry to the area’s oil is an enormous motivator of what’s occurring there. And type of focusing primarily simply on Venezuela for proper now, Venezuela has a whole lot of oil, like, an estimated 303 billion barrels of oil, in comparison with the USA, which has roughly 46 billion barrels. A really primary query: Like, why does Venezuela and that space simply have a lot oil?
Westervelt: Effectively, they’ve the Orinoco Basin, which is the world’s largest oil reserve, principally [Laughs], so Venezuela has probably the most oil of anybody on this planet. Nevertheless it’s not nice oil; it’s heavy crude. And so it’s type of on par with, like, tar sands oil in Canada.
Pierre-Louis: So what does that imply? As a result of I feel for most individuals …
Westervelt: Proper.
Pierre-Louis: We don’t actually take into consideration, like, grade of oil. We don’t usually see oil. If we’ve got a imaginative and prescient of what oil is, it’s like The Beverly Hillbillies …
Westervelt: [Laughs.] Sure.
Pierre-Louis: And, like, it, like, trickling out of the bottom. [Laughs.] So, so what do, like, grades of oil truly imply?
Westervelt: So the Venezuelan oil is heavy crude, which suggests it’s acquired a whole lot of stuff in it, which signifies that it’s dearer to refine, which cuts into oil corporations’ margins. And it is also much less favorable for lots of various, like, kinds of engines, kinds of makes use of, which signifies that it will get a lower cost in the marketplace.
In order the worth of oil has come down the worth of heavy crude comes down much more as a result of what we usually consider as, like, the worth per barrel is nice crude, you realize? [Laughs.] It’s, like, it’s the great things. So no matter that’s at, which is decrease, heavy crude is gonna be even decrease than that. After which on prime of that Venezuelan oil has had all these sanctions towards it. Trump has been a part of that, each in his first time period and extra lately.
So, you realize—’trigger I really feel just like the query is all the time like, “Why isn’t Venezuela Saudi Arabia, proper [Laughs], like, if it has this a lot oil?” And there are a couple of causes, one in every of which is, yeah, the standard of oil, the gap to markets for it after which the truth that it has sanctions on these markets.
Extra individuals are extra within the stuff that doesn’t burn fairly so heavy. Partly, that’s pushed by environmental laws as properly.
However then on prime of that they’ve recognized they’d this oil for a very long time. I imply, some folks will say, like, the Spaniards knew it once they have been colonizing Venezuela and all of that, however for positive they’ve been creating it since round World Conflict I, when everybody was on the lookout for extra oil as a result of that was the primary type of large fossil fueled struggle.
And American corporations have been in there, like, just about since soar. So you might have this bizarre factor that occurs in a whole lot of conditions the place U.S. oil corporations really feel, like, this attachment to the oil business there [Laughs] and this, like, entitlement to the oil that’s there as properly.
However, like, Venezuela began attempting to nationalize its oil business in, like, the ’30s and ’40s. We discovered some paperwork from this previous PR man who acquired despatched by Customary Oil to go attempt to, like, cease this from occurring within the ’40s and was profitable. And an enormous a part of that was labor and, you realize, the truth that employees have been aggravated that, you realize, they have been being badly paid and badly handled by these international corporations that have been making a lot cash off of Venezuelan oil. So, you realize, at the moment, within the ’40s, it was all about type of, like, coping with the labor unions, eliminating the labor unions, getting contracts in place that, you realize, would stop that from occurring.
However they may solely type of stave it off for therefore lengthy, and in 1976 Venezuela did nationalize oil, however they allowed a whole lot of joint partnerships, so it didn’t actually overly have an effect on U.S. oil corporations [Laughs]—till [then-Venezuelan President Hugo] Chávez in 2007 mentioned, “Okay, sufficient of this. Like, you could be right here, however the majority shareholder in any oil undertaking in Venezuela must be the state oil firm. And in case you don’t prefer it, like, you may get out.” And each Exxon and ConocoPhillips refused.
And they also left, and he seized their property. Chevron stayed as, like, a minority shareholder in a number of the tasks there, however that has been, you realize, type of up and down in recent times due to U.S. sanctions as properly, so Chevron’s type of been teetering. However when Exxon acquired kicked out they’d this backup plan already in thoughts ’trigger they’d been tenting out on an exploratory license in Guyana for the reason that late ’90s.
Pierre-Louis: Yeah, and so my understanding is way of that infrastructure that Venezuela had is now fairly previous. And so simply to summarize type of the lay of the land: Venezuela has oil, however a lot of it isn’t that nice, and it might want important infrastructure funding to essentially get it pumping once more to the diploma that we appear to be speaking about, and it wouldn’t essentially command an incredible value.
Westervelt: To the tune of, like, tens of billions of {dollars}. Like, it’s not a small sum of money that we’re speaking about right here.
Pierre-Louis: And but proper throughout the border is Guyana, which has a ton of candy, mild crude. Are you able to speak in regards to the battle that has been enjoying out over the previous few years between Venezuela and Guyana?
Westervelt: Sure, in order that battle truly goes again all the way in which to, like, the late 1800s. So Venezuela and Guyana have argued over this one space that’s referred to as Essequibo. Venezuela has claimed that it’s a Venezuelan state for a very long time. Within the late Nineties—I feel it’s 1899—there was a world arbitration ruling over this dispute that mentioned, “No, that is the place the border is. Essequibo is in Guyana.” And that, you realize, was type of nice for some time period.
Within the early ’60s this dispute type of, like, got here up once more. Some folks suppose, truly, it was round oil then as properly ’trigger there was some early exploration occurring and a few pondering that probably there was oil off the coast there. And at the moment there was one other treaty that was signed that’s referred to as the Geneva [Agreement], and it was signed by the U.Ok., Venezuela and British Guiana, which is what Guyana was on the time as a result of it had not been given …
Pierre-Louis: Independence.
Westervelt: Independence but, precisely. So it was signed, made official in 1966, after which simply, truly, like, a couple of months later Guyana was simply type of added to it. Like, they have been, like, made unbiased, so it’s like, “Oh, now it’s you guys,” however they by no means actually, like, agreed to any of these things.
So in 2015 Exxon introduced that they’d discovered this huge reserve of oil offshore Guyana. And instantly, Maduro began saying, “, truly, that’s Venezuela.” I talked to some petroleum engineers in Guyana, and a few of them truly suppose that a part of the rationale Venezuela was involved in regards to the oil in Guyana was additionally that they suppose the reservoirs are related, and they also have been involved that if the oil’s getting taken out, like, over right here, it might scale back manufacturing in Venezuela as properly.
However regardless, this complete dispute has flared up once more since 2015. And within the final two years particularly Maduro began to get actually aggressive about it. And that is the piece that I really feel like has been missed by a whole lot of the protection round Venezuela, is that, you realize, he began sending, like, navy ships to, like, patrol round this space.
[Laughs.] In December of 2023 Maduro simply, like, as soon as once more declared that Essequibo is a Venezuelan state. He had a referendum the place the folks of Venezuela voted, and, you realize, the voting system in Venezuela has been below a whole lot of scrutiny for varied causes [Laughs] for a very long time, however he claims that Venezuelan voters overwhelmingly agreed that that is a part of Venezuela. After which in January 2025 he introduced that they’d be holding elections for the governor of this Venezuelan state.
As this is happening Guyana has now taken a declare to the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice to ask them to rule on it. They’ve filed that declare in 2018. It’s been very slow-moving. However, like, the ruling has to date mentioned, “Hey, you guys should, like, maintain the established order till we make a last choice,” which hasn’t occurred but.
However then in March of 2025 Venezuela despatched [naval ship] to Exxon’s floating offshore manufacturing vessel [Laughs] and advised workers of that boat that they have been in Venezuelan waters, you realize, have been, like, aggressively asking a bunch of questions. It was a really aggressive act, and it was instantly at Exxon’s vessel, and that basically acquired the U.S. concerned. So abruptly each the U.S. State Division type of issued a press release about it—there have been, like, varied entities that have been saying, like, “Hey, you guys can’t do that. You’ll want to calm it down.”
After which Marco Rubio truly went to Venezuela in late March of 2025 and gave this press convention with Guyanese officers, the place he mentioned, like, “Venezuela’s gonna have the U.S. navy to take care of if it doesn’t calm it down with these things.”
Pierre-Louis: So undergirding all of this jockeying for oil is the truth that the planet is getting hotter …
Westervelt: [Laughs.] Proper.
Pierre-Louis: Local weather change is actual …
Westervelt: Proper, yeah, uh-huh.
Pierre-Louis: And the fact is that if we wanna keep circumstances which might be appropriate for human life, we have to cease utilizing oil and fossil fuels altogether. It very a lot appears like we’re in [an] early 2000s redux, however the local weather is way hotter. [Laughs.]
Westervelt: Yeah, it’s a lot worse. I imply, this, truly, to me, was additionally what drew me to the Guyana story within the first place, is that [roughly] 90 p.c of the inhabitants of Guyana is on this tiny sliver of coast proper subsequent to Georgetown that might be underwater in about 10 years.
Pierre-Louis: That’s stunning.
Westervelt: [Roughly] 90 p.c of the inhabitants wants to maneuver and but they have been going all in on this new oil business. I used to be like, “What? What? Make it make sense.”
However the unhappy—to me, it’s, like, such an illustration of the full failure of the worldwide group to do something about this downside, to determine, you realize, any type of local weather damages or reparations coverage. As a result of Guyana, which was additionally, like, the early poster little one for paying creating international locations for carbon sinks and dealing with the International South on carbon credit and all of that stuff: like, they have been—you realize, Norway put a bunch of cash into preserving forests in Guyana for the aim of sustaining a carbon sink there. They’re one of many world’s largest carbon sinks nonetheless. They have been like, “We are able to’t pay to maneuver our total nation away [Laughs] from sea-level rise with out this oil cash.” So it’s, like, the most important “robbing Peter to pay Paul” story I’ve ever heard of, and it’s simply—it’s mind-blowing that, like, they’re now on the mercy of oil corporations to pay for local weather adaptation.
Pierre-Louis: That’s actually tragic, if you consider it.
Westervelt: It’s completely tragic, yeah.
Pierre-Louis: From a local weather perspective, what do you suppose is lacking from the dialog round Venezuela and Guyana?
Westervelt: Effectively, I imply, I feel the local weather in its entirety is lacking from that dialog. I really feel like the truth that each of those international locations are going to be massively hit by local weather impacts is, like—it’s virtually solely lacking. Even, you realize, Guyana’s type of saying, like, “Oh, properly, you realize, if we’ve got all this oil cash, then we will pay to, like, transfer everybody out of hurt’s manner.” Effectively, the place is out of hurt’s manner?
What occurs if there’s a blowout? Effectively, the entire Caribbean will get impacted by that. You’ve gotten an oil spill that hits—I imply, Exxon’s personal environmental impression report on this reveals that if such a factor have been to occur, it might impression 14 totally different Caribbean international locations, 14, and all of that are at the least considerably depending on tourism …
Pierre-Louis: Mm-hmm.
Westervelt: For his or her economic system, so as soon as these seashores are destroyed by an oil spill, how’s that gonna go? To not point out, like, meals supply …
Pierre-Louis: Yeah, fishing …
Westervelt: [Laughs.] Fishing.
Pierre-Louis: Is large within the Caribbean.
Westervelt: Precisely. So there’s so many layers of issues right here.
And once more, I simply really feel like—once I talked to folks in Guyana, too, about, “What’s occurring right here? Aren’t you guys—I assumed you guys have been so involved in regards to the atmosphere [Laughs] and local weather and no matter,” they’re like, “Yeah, we’re, however, like, how are we gonna pay for all of these things?” And so they have been, like, slightly bit—and I don’t suppose they’re improper on this—“Effectively, what’s the distinction between taking cash from the Norwegian authorities to maintain our bushes [and] taking cash from Exxon to drill our oil?”
Pierre-Louis: Proper, properly, this has been—I gained’t say a stunning dialog, however it has been …
Westervelt: [Laughs.]
Pierre-Louis: [Laughs.] An illuminating dialog …
Westervelt: Yeah.
Pierre-Louis: Thanks a lot to your time right this moment.
Westervelt: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Pierre-Louis: That’s all for right this moment. Tune in on Monday for our weekly science information roundup.
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Science Rapidly is produced by me, Kendra Pierre-Louis, together with Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our present. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for extra up-to-date and in-depth science information.
For Scientific American, that is Kendra Pierre-Louis. Have an incredible weekend!
