Crude prices are low. Companies are being cautious. But huge reserves — particularly of the heavy, viscous oil Venezuela has in abundance — remain appealing.

Venezuela sits on 303 billion barrels of oil—more than Saudi Arabia. So why does it pump less than 1% of global supply? The answer involves nationalizations, sanctions and crude that's harder to extract than most.

Venezuela’s oil industry has been in the spotlight since President Donald Trump captured the country’s President Nicolas Maduro.

Most of the state's 15 crude oil refineries were built specifically to process the heavy sour crude that comes from Venezuela and turn into products like diesel, fuel oil and asphalt.

Investors look to safe-haven assets like gold and silver to limit risk from the ongoing political instability in Latin America.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright will meet with oil executives at a conference in Miami on Wednesday, just days after the United States captured the head of Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves in the world.

Most of the reserves in the country are extra-heavy oil that’s tough to extract and generates more greenhouse gases.

Oil major Chevron Corp , global trading houses Vitol and Trafigura, and other firms are competing for U.S. government deals to export crude oil from Venezuela, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave the clearest statement yet on Washington’s strategy to bring the impoverished nation’s crude to market. | World News

American helicopters and a Coast Guard vessel were being used to board the tanker under law enforcement authority granted to the Coast Guard, while American and British submarine-