Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Editorials & Other Articles

duckworth969

(1,011 posts)

5. Orinoco Belt Oil Reserve and Coltan

Reply to steve2470 (Original post)

Thu Nov 20, 2025, 06:23 PM

Thursday

Is what this Venezuela military operation is all about.

The Orinoco Belt is the largest oil reserve on the planet.

From Wiki:

“…the producible reserves of the Orinoco Belt are up to 235 billion barrels (3.74×1010 m3) which would make it the largest petroleum reserve in the world…”.

And Coltan is a rare earth used in electronics such as smart phone, smart bombs, etc.

Article is from 2012, but gives you an idea why Coltan is important to manufacturers and part of the black market trade activity with Venezuela and Colombia.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coltan/venezuela-emerges-new-source-conflict-minerals/

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

steve2470

5 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Massive US Marine Buildup in Caribbean Just 7 Miles from Venezuela's Coast [View all] steve2470 Thursday OP

Trump's riding the short bus to crazy town and Hegseth must be on a binder. surfered Thursday #1

of course this Venezuela thing has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the Epstein files.... steve2470 Thursday #2

Nor drugs............ Lovie777 Thursday #3

exactly nt steve2470 Thursday #4

Orinoco Belt Oil Reserve and Coltan duckworth969 Thursday #5