This is What Socialism Looks Like: Venezuela Oil Exports Slump to a 28-Year Low

 Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela is home to the world’s biggest crude reserves, but the country exported only 1.245 million barrels a day last year, the lowest since 1990.

This is what happens when a dictator runs a sector of the economy in socialist style and launches an immediate money grab.


Oil is the Venezuelan government's main source of revenue. Its cash flow bankrolls the regime of the socialist president Nicolas Maduro. By grabbing all cash flow for himself  "the people," he has left nothing for capital funding to maintain oil production and expand it. This is something that would never happen in a free market. The minute oil entrepreneurs spotted such a program of spending all cash flow by a corporation, they would rush in to acquire the asset for its long-term value.

Venezuela's crude production has fallen by more than half in the past five years to a daily average of 1.346 million barrels this year, according to OPEC.

-RW