• New mapping analysis by Mongabay reveals the potential threat from oil extraction to numerous ecosystems in Venezuela, including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs and Amazon rainforest, among others.
• Venezuela has 538,883 km2 (208,064 mi2) of protected areas and 177,843 km2 (68,666 mi2) of oil blocks, some of them already in production and others in the pre-exploration or exploration phases.
• An estimated 70,785 km2 (27,330 mi2)— or around 13% — of those oil blocks overlap with protected areas.
• Extracting all 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves would release an estimated 33.1 gigatons of CO2 by 2100, according to Climate Interactive’s calculator for fossil fuel extraction from biomass-rich areas.

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Since the U.S. ousted Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this year, officials in Caracas have been looking for ways to increase oil production, including by attracting foreign private investment. In February, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited facilities operated by Chevron and met with interim government officials, describing plans to unlock “Venezuela’s enormous potential.” New supply contracts are routing Venezuelan crude to U.S. refineries while a new reform law is supposed to attract foreign oil companies with lower taxes and other incentives.

Increased production could have an adverse environmental impact as activity ramps up, many conservation groups say. In Venezuela, oil blocks overlap with protected areas, and leaks have been a problem for decades.

“From an environmental point of view, an immediate reactivation without investment in infrastructure is almost a sure formula for environmental damage from spills,” Eduardo Klein, a marine ecology professor at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, told Mongabay.

New mapping analysis by Mongabay reveals the extent of the potential threat to the country’s numerous ecosystems, including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs and Amazon rainforest, among others.

The map was made with data from the World Database of Protected Areas and oil block maps from ProVita, an environmental nonprofit. It shows that Venezuela has 538,883 square kilometers (208,064 square miles) of protected areas and 177,843 km2 (68,666 mi2) of oil blocks, some of them already in production and others in the pre-exploration or exploration phases.

An estimated 70,785 km2 (27,330 mi2) — or around 13% — of those oil blocks overlap with protected areas.

Several protected areas are located inside the Orinoco Oil Belt, a stretch of land without a legal designation but containing most of the country’s estimated reserves of 303 billion barrels of crude oil. One of the protected areas, Aguaro‑Guariquito National Park in the Llanos region, contains tropical savannas that are home to the critically endangered Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) and the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), an endangered species.

Other parts of the belt are classified as “forest areas under protection” and “critical areas with treatment priority” (ACPT), designations that have fewer land management requirements.

“The big question is whether the government, given its desperation to reactivate the oil industry, will turn a blind eye to these regulations and give the green light for investment to happen without following environmental controls,” Klein said.

Workers of the state-owned PDVSA oil company rally to back an oil reform bill to loosen state control and open the industry to investment. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Other oil blocks only partially overlap with protected areas or sit adjacent to them, which also exposes them to oil spills, several experts said. Spills are the largest environmental threat from the oil industry, with dozens occurring each year and spreading beyond the boundaries of the oil blocks.

In many cases, the oil travels through rivers, streams and other parts of the watershed. Along the Caribbean coast, some seagrass, mangroves and coral reefs sit outside of protected areas and oil blocks but have still been affected by spills in the open ocean.

The spills are largely the result of degraded infrastructure, Klein said. Storage tanks, pipelines and wells have fallen into disrepair due to corruption and government mismanagement. U.S. sanctions against the country’s oil industry have also prevented the industry from accessing replacement parts.

One of the areas most affected by spills is Lake Maracaibo, spanning more than 13,000 km2 (about 5,000 mi2) of brackish water and mangroves. The map shows it’s almost entirely covered by oil blocks that also overlap with ACPTs as well as with Ciénagas de Juan Manuel National Park.

Oil extraction on the lake began more than a century ago, and has threatened the livelihoods of local fishing communities.

“[It’s] a plate of spaghetti of pipelines, some abandoned and in very poor condition, and others leaking all the time,” one activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told Mongabay.

A fisherman throws his net with the Cardon refinery in the background in Punta Cardon, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Emissions concerns and calls for a different approach

Extracting all 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves would release an estimated 33.1 gigatons of CO2 by 2100, according to Climate Interactive’s calculator for fossil fuel extraction from biomass-rich areas.

That’s more than six times the U.S. annual carbon footprint.

Venezuelan crude is “dirtier” and heavier than most kinds of oil, requiring higher heat and a more complex refining process that results in higher emissions. According to the International Energy Agency, the methane emissions intensity of oil and gas operations in Venezuela is six times the global average, and flaring intensity is 10 times the global average.

Intensity measures emissions relative to the amount of oil and gas produced.

“Venezuela’s oil industry is among the most polluting and poorly maintained in the world,” the NGO Global Witness said in a statement following Maduro’s removal.

Global Witness and other advocacy groups also criticized the U.S. intervention in Venezuela as a way of profiting from the oil industry at the expense of local communities, who have been adversely affected by oil spills, flaring and rising carbon emissions.

In a statement, Greenpeace said other options for investment could involve climate finance, debt relief, and international support for a clean energy transition.

“In an era of accelerating climate breakdown, eyeing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves this way is both reckless and dangerous,” Greenpeace International executive director Mads Christensen said in the statement. “The only safe path forward is a just transition away from fossil fuels, one that protects health, safeguards ecosystems, and supports communities rather than sacrificing them for short-term profit.”

Banner image: Clouds shroud Angel Falls in Canaima National Park, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

See related from this reporter: 

Venezuela tries an environmental rebrand, but critics aren’t buying it

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