President Donald Trump announced a U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement that he said gives the United States majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.
Trump called it “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY” in a Friday Truth Social post. He said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth negotiated the agreement with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and private businesses “at no cost to the American Taxpayer.”
Trump said the arrangement would more than double the oil reserves under American control and lower gasoline prices over time. He said Sunday that oil produced through the agreement would help refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with the “topping out” process beginning “very shortly.”
The reserve held 289.7 million barrels for the week ending August 21, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data. The Department of Energy lists its authorized capacity at 714 million barrels.
Deal targets 17 oil fields
Rodríguez said the bilateral project will last 25 years, develop 17 strategic oil fields and target production above 1.5 million barrels per day. She said Venezuela will retain ownership and sovereignty over its natural resources.
The agreement could draw more than $100 billion in private investment and generate more than $209 billion in taxes for Venezuela, according to Rodríguez. Venezuela currently produces about 1.25 million barrels per day despite holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Reuters reported.
The 65 billion-barrel figure describes proven reserves in the ground. It does not represent crude already produced or ready for shipment to U.S. refineries or storage sites.
Major terms remain undisclosed
Neither government had released the agreement’s text as of Sunday. Trump did not identify the private operator, participating oil companies, financing structure or the mechanism through which the United States would exercise majority control.
Venezuela’s damaged oil infrastructure will require substantial investment before production can rise sharply. That leaves the timing of any effect on U.S. gasoline prices or the Strategic Petroleum Reserve uncertain.
Amy Myers Jaffe, director of New York University’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, said the agreement could help over the long term but would not change pump prices for Labor Day weekend, The Associated Press reported.
The announcement advances a policy Trump outlined after U.S. forces captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Trump said major American oil companies would spend billions repairing Venezuela’s damaged oil infrastructure, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Provided by Dallas Express
