President Donald Trump says the United States has reached an agreement with Venezuela that will give American interests majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven oil reserves, marking an extraordinary expansion of US involvement in Venezuela’s energy sector, as reported by Reuters and Washington Post. Trump described the agreement as the “biggest oil deal in world history,” although key details about its legal and financial structure have yet to be disclosed.
The agreement, negotiated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, would involve a partnership between the US and private companies to develop 17 oil fields. Venezuela’s government said the projects could attract about $100 billion in private investment and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Caracas.
For Washington, the deal is aimed at increasing access to crude, rebuilding US strategic oil reserves and putting downward pressure on gasoline prices. Trump said the transaction would more than double US oil reserves, while the administration argues that American investment could revive Venezuela’s severely weakened petroleum industry. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at about 303 billion barrels, but produces only around 1.25 million barrels per day after years of underinvestment, mismanagement and sanctions.
The announcement nevertheless faces questions over legality, ownership, infrastructure and execution. Analysts note that Venezuela’s heavy crude requires significant investment and sophisticated processing infrastructure, meaning any substantial increase in production could take years. The agreement also represents a dramatic shift in Venezuela’s energy policy and could reshape the balance of influence among the US, China and other major players in the country’s oil industry.
