Venezuela is home to vast mineral resources, although it is best known for its hydrocarbons

Venezuela is home to vast mineral resources, although it is best known for its hydrocarbons, and rightly so given that it ranks fifth in the world in oil reserves and seventh in natural gas, according to BP’s World Energy Statistics Report (June 2005). Thanks to this, Venezuela plays a key role in the world market for these commodities. From 1984 to 2004 extraction of oil and gas and refining accounted for 24% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Most activities in the non-oil economy are in the services sector, which accounts for 46% of the non-oil GDP, with trade and real estate standing out above the rest. In the case of production of goods, manufacturing holds first place, contributing 15%, followed by construction with 6% and agriculture with 5%.