New Delhi [India], January 5 (ANI): The ongoing crisis in Venezuela is unlikely to have a major impact on global prices of gold, silver, and crude oil, experts said, noting that the country has been under sanctions for several years and plays a limited role in formal global supply chains.
Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert, told ANI that Venezuela’s economic relevance to the global system has sharply declined over the past decade due to prolonged sanctions. “Venezuela’s GDP has fallen from USD 350 billion in 2012 to USD 80 billion in 2025 as a result of sanctions. In a USD 116 trillion world economy, this is not a material number at all,” he said. Regarding oil, he added, “Despite its huge reserves, the oil infrastructure has deteriorated, and only Chevron is operating some oil fields apart from the state-owned producer. Even a total loss of the 950,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan production is not material in a 103 million b/d global supply chain.”
On precious metals, Bagga said the recent movements in gold and silver prices are more linked to safe-haven buying than to Venezuela-specific factors. “Regarding gold and silver, the reaction is more a safe-haven buying, as is happening for the US dollar, which is up today. Venezuela itself is not a large-scale determinant of the rise of gold and silver today; the fundamental issues of last year are at play,” he noted.
Energy policy expert Narendra Taneja also said Venezuela is unlikely to cause immediate disruption to global oil prices, noting that most refineries worldwide are not designed to process Venezuelan heavy crude. “Venezuela may have larger reserves of oil, but they are a very small player in terms of supplying oil to the global system. They produce hardly 900,000 barrels of oil per day, most of which is exported to China. With American companies moving in, Venezuela could potentially produce 3 million barrels per day within the next year, which would be beneficial to the global supply system,” he added.
Overall, experts believe the Venezuela crisis is unlikely to create major shocks for oil or precious metals markets in the near term. The comments follow a major military operation over January 3-4, 2026, during which the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas. President Donald Trump said no nation in the world could achieve what the United States has achieved, adding that the US will run the country “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
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