Skeptics calling out Venezuela's crude challenge actually have a point — the Orinoco Belt holds massive reserves, but here's the catch: unlocking that oil would realistically require around a decade to develop plus roughly $100 billion in capital deployment. The optimists underestimate the logistics; the pessimists get the fundamentals right. It's not just about resources existing — it's about the staggering investment horizon and timeline needed to actually extract them profitably.