Venezuela for kids

The Economy

Venezuela is a tremendously fortunate country with an extraordinary potential for economic growth. It possesses immensely rich natural resources, has a large, sparsely populated territorial expansion, and is already one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America in per capita terms.

These factors, combined with Venezuela’s proud democratic system of government and vigorous, stable economy, constitute the base for what is one of the most attractive dynamic markets, and potential supplier of industrial goods on this continent.

Venezuela has been an oil producing and exporting country. It is traditionally and in all circumstances been one of the principal suppliers of petroleum to the United States, being at the same time Venezuela’s best customer. It holds the largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere and is the only producer with long-term export potential outside the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.

Venezuela has huge oil reserves, especially very heavy crude and one of the largest and most integrated petroleum industries in the world and it refines much of its production. Its present production capacity is roughly 2 and a half million barrels per day. Proven oil reserves are estimated to be almost 76 billion barrels, enough to maintain current production for over 90m years.

The reserves of hydrocarbons, which includes the Orinoco bituminous belt, has been estimated to contain up to three trillions barrels of oil. Venezuela is the second producer in Latin America and the sixth largest exporter in the world.

Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) is the holding company for the Venezuelan oil industry, with over 15 subsidiaries and over 50,000 employees. PDVSA coordinates the activities of the nation’s oil, gas, petrochemicals, coal and bitumen industries.

Venezuela also has substantial reserves of bauxite and iron ore based on which it is presently the leading producer of aluminum in Latin America and fifth in the world.

Gas production is also very important. In 1999 the daily production reached 6 billions cubic feet. Gas reserves are 147 trillions of cubic feet.

It is the fourth largest producer of steel products in Latin America and it has one of the greatest hydroelectric systems in the world and the largest hydroelectric power plant (Guri dam) in Latin America. The Guri dam supplies 70% of the country’s electricity and saves 300,000 barrels of oil a day.

Venezuela also possesses large expanses of yet uncultivated agricultural lands.