Headlines love tossing around Venezuela’s “303 billion barrels” like it’s a magic switch, but the reality is messy, expensive, and slow. Mark and David Pursell, Adjunct Professor of Petroleum Engineering, walk through why heavy oil, busted infrastructure, and shaky politics make this a long-cycle rebuild, not a drill-and-chill moment, plus what to watch in markets when the story sounds too easy. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 Intro and why Venezuela is everywhere 02:10 David’s Venezuela background and PDVSA history 07:40 Why production is hard to restart 09:20 Reserves vs resources and the heavy oil problem 12:45 Refining limits and why Canada filled the gap 16:05 Capital, contracts, and what companies actually watch 24:45 Guyana, Argentina, and above-ground risk 29:00 Inventories, OPEC, and where the “surplus” is hiding 37:15 What to watch over the next 18 months 50:10 Saudi data story and why numbers get political 55:20 Teaching, capstone, and wrapping up https://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters