Experts cast doubt on Venezuela's longtime claim of 300 billion barrels of reserve oil

AP – A single figure sets Venezuela apart from the rest of the world: 303 billion barrels of so-called proven oil reserves. But experts say the country's estimate is inherently problematic and far from proven – rooted in exaggerated, aging data from a corrupt government.

The number has long been touted by politicians and investors as an important measure of untapped energy potential, most recently by President Donald Trump's administration in detailing a sweeping deal for the US to take control of some Venezuelan reserves.

But a more realistic estimate of the country's proven reserves – a gold standard metric, representing the amount of oil that can reasonably be extracted under current conditions – is about one-third of what it has reported, half a dozen experts told The Associated Press.