Venezuela and coal

This article is part of the Global Energy Monitor coverage of coal and power industry data

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Coal Coal mining Coal reserves Global use and production of coal Coal exports (global) Coal terminals Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation Corporate market share of global coal export trade Coal studies Peak coal Foreign ownership of U.S. coal mines

Venezuela is a small coal producer, ranked 55th in the world, producing 0.3 million tonnes in 2019.

Coal Resources

Venezuela has an abundance of coal reserves - with the third largest in Latin America- on which it has begun to rely more heavily due to US oil sanctions. Increasing coal production is the State strategy to mitigate the economic damaged caused by lost oil revenues.

Resources Details

Category	Reserve Classification	Quantity	Units	Data Year
BGR Estimate	Reserves	731	million tonnes	2019
BGR Estimate	Resources	5,981	million tonnes	2019
Geological Survey	Reserves	3,000	million tonnes	2018
Geological Survey	Resources	7,000	million tonnes	2018
Commercial Reporting	Reserves		million tonnes
Commercial Reporting	Resources		million tonnes

Coal Production

Source: Worldometers

Venezuela currently produces 0.2 million tonnes per annum, a dramatic decline from earlier in the century. In 2006 Venezuela produced approximately 7.4 million tonnes of bituminous coal, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The sole operating coal mine in 2006 was the CoalCarbones del Guasare, S.A operation. The joint venture partners were listed as being Carbozulia S.A. with a 49% stake and Peabody Energy and Anglo Coal with a 25.5% stake each. The mine is located near Paso Diablo in Zulia State in the Guasare coal basin and has a rated production capacity of 8 million tonnes a year.

Peabody Energy, which refers to the mine as the Paso Diablo Mine, states on its website that the mine "is a 6.6 to 8.0 million ton-per-year surface operation that exports coal for electricity generators and steelmakers in North America and Europe. Paso Diablo utilizes the truck-shovel method to access approximately 175 million tonnes of reserves (in the current coal concession) in the Guasare coal basin ... Most coal travels approximately 90 kilometers to the port at Santa Cruz de Mara on Lake Maracaibo ... Peabody markets a proportional amount of the mine's output to customers of seaborne coal seeking high-Btu, low sulfur thermal coal for electricity generation and PCI coal for use in steel production."

Coal Consumption

The country consumes approximately 180,696 short tons annually.

Imports & source countries

Venezuela does not import notable amounts of coal, particularly since the economic crisis began.

Transport

Venezuela exports coal primarily to European nations for a total of 310,000 tons during 2019. Britain was one of the destinations for Venezuelan coal in 2019 and 2020 after receiving no Venezuelan coal during 2018.