Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but it can’t solve for the Strait of Hormuz ‘math problem’

As the Iran war drags deeper into its third week, one seemingly obvious solution for more energy is crude oil from Venezuela after the Trump administration seized former leader Nicolás Maduro and pressed for the reopening of the nation’s oil sector.

The glaring problem is more oil from Venezuela—or any other source around the world—represents only metaphorical drops in the global supply bucket compared to the massive losses each day from the Persian Gulf and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

“It’s a math problem,” said Fernando Ferreira, director of the geopolitical risk service at Rapidan Energy Group. “Hormuz flows about 20 million barrels [of oil] a day. Venezuela is currently producing about 1 million [barrels daily].”

The issue is there simply are no alternatives to the de facto closure of the passageway that sees about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas trek through it each day.

“Venezuela helps; every little bit helps. But, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t change the equation,” Ferreira told Fortune. “There is no medium-term solution other than reopening the straits. Nothing else is going to solve the crisis.”

Arguably t...