"New mapping data show where oil blocks threaten Venezuela’s protected areas", 19 March 2026

...Since the U.S. ousted Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this year, officials in Caracas have been looking for ways to increase oil production, including by attracting foreign private investment...

Increased production could have an adverse environmental impact as activity ramps up, many conservation groups say. In Venezuela, oil blocks overlap with protected areas, and leaks have been a problem for decades..

New mapping analysis by Mongabay reveals the extent of the potential threat to the country’s numerous ecosystems, including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs and Amazon rainforest, among others...

Venezuela has 538,883 square kilometers (208,064 square miles) of protected areas and 177,843 km2 (68,666 mi2) of oil blocks, some of them already in production and others in the pre-exploration or exploration phases. An estimated 70,785 km2 (27,330 mi2) — or around 13% — of those oil blocks overlap with protected areas...

Other oil blocks only partially overlap with protected areas or sit adjacent to them, which also exposes them to oil spills, several experts said...

In many cases, the oil travels through rivers, streams and other parts of the watershed. Along the Caribbean coast, some seagrass, mangroves and coral reefs sit outside of protected areas and oil blocks but have still been affected by spills in the open ocean...

Venezuelan crude is “dirtier” and heavier than most kinds of oil, requiring higher heat and a more complex refining process that results in higher emissions...

In a statement, Greenpeace said other options for investment could involve climate finance, debt relief, and international support for a clean energy transition...