Despite having the world's largest oil deposits at about 1.3 trillion barrels, Venezuela has taken socialism's path downward from the 4th to the 82nd wealthiest nation on Earth. Venezuela in 1950 had the fourth largest domestic GDP per capita at $7,424 per capita versus $9,573 for the United States as the world's leader.  The United States is still the world's leader 2019 at $65,061, but Venezuela has collapsed to just $3,100. Oil was discovered in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt at the beginning of the twentieth century.  A 44-mile-wide deposit zone stretching for 375 miles along the Orinoco River toward the Atlantic Ocean has the world's largest proven reserves at 302 billion barrels. The shallow depth deposits can be open-pit mined with steam shovels.  By adopting the superheated "Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage" (SAGD) that has been employed in Alberta, Canada could double reserves to...(Read Full Post)