Reconstructing Venezuela's oil sector would demand upwards of $100 billion from American energy firms—yet that's hardly the toughest hurdle they're up against. The real barriers run deeper: geopolitical instability, regulatory uncertainty, and the long-term viability of such massive capital deployment in a volatile region. Beyond the sheer investment scale, companies must navigate political risk, infrastructure decay, and whether returns justify the exposure. These structural obstacles will likely prove far more constraining than the initial funding itself.