Venezuela’s rapidly disintegrating oil industry, which is the backbone of its economy, is a mere shadow of what it once was, despite the founding OPEC member possessing the world’s largest proved oil reserves totaling 303 billion barrels at the start 0f 2020. Even the intervention of Russia, China, and Iran has done little to revive Venezuela’s rapidly crumbling petroleum industry. There is an emerging opinion, in light of the failure of crippling U.S. sanctions to trigger regime change, that a different approach needs to be taken if Venezuela is not to become a failed state. While there is no consensus as to what that approach will be, it is likely that President-Elect Joe Biden will seek a less confrontational and more political as well as humanitarian approach to resolving Venezuela’s long-running crisis. A crucial element of any strategy is the participation of Western energy majors in rebuilding Venezuela’s shattered […]