The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Venezuela’s oil output in December fell by 11 percent, to 1.62 million barrels per day (BPD). That capped a decline of 29 percent in 2017 and represents an overall decline of 53 percent since the late Hugo Chávez was first elected president in 1998. To put this in perspective, the proved reserves of the U.S. are 48 billion barrels, versus 301 billion barrels for Venezuela. (I explain here why Venezuela’s reserves are overstated, but without a doubt, they are much larger than those of the U.S.) Yet U.S. oil production is just short of 10 million BPD — six times Venezuela’s production. And unlike Venezuela, the U.S. has seen its production increase by nearly 60 percent since 1998. I have covered the ongoing demise of Venezuela’s oil industry for over a decade. I warned back in 2007 that the actions of […]