U.S. Secures Venezuela Oil Deal

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday what he called the “biggest oil deal in world history,”saying the United States has secured majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves.

The enormous quantity is equivalent to more than 10.3 trillion liters of crude oil (65 billion barrels), although the agreement does not mean that the United States has purchased or taken immediate possession of that amount of oil. The petroleum remains underground in Venezuela and would have to be developed and produced over many years.

Trump announced the agreement on Truth Social, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth worked with Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez and private businesses to secure majority U.S. control of the reserves.

Trump said the transaction would come at “no cost to the American taxpayer” and claimed it would more than double American oil reserves, greatly increase available oil supplies and substantially lower gasoline prices for Americans over the long term.

The agreement is extraordinary in scale. Venezuela possesses the largest proven petroleum reserves in the world, with more than 300 billion barrels. The 65 billion barrels cited by Trump represent roughly one-fifth of that enormous resource.

But important details remain unknown.

The administration has not yet publicly identified all of the oil fields covered by the agreement, the companies that will operate them, the financial arrangements involved or precisely how the United States will exercise its majority control.

The agreement follows weeks of negotiations aimed at giving American companies long-term access to Venezuelan oil fields while directing more crude toward U.S. refineries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the arrangement could ultimately bring nearly $100 billion in private investment into Venezuela, create thousands of jobs and help rebuild the country’s badly deteriorated oil infrastructure.

That rebuilding will be critical.

Despite possessing more oil underground than any other nation, Venezuela currently produces only about 1.25 million barrels per day, far below its historical potential. Years of underinvestment, mismanagement, sanctions and political turmoil have left pipelines, refineries, power systems and other infrastructure in poor condition.

That also means Americans should not expect 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan crude to suddenly enter the market.

Developing the fields and expanding production could take years, and legal and constitutional questions surrounding foreign control of Venezuelan petroleum could complicate the agreement.

The announcement follows the dramatic political upheaval in Venezuela earlier this year, when Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces and taken to the United States. Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, subsequently became interim president and has moved toward opening the country’s energy sector to additional foreign investment.

For the United States, the potential prize is enormous: long-term access to one of the world’s richest concentrations of petroleum at a time when Washington is seeking additional reliable energy supplies.

Trump is promising that the agreement will eventually translate into lower gasoline prices and greater American energy security.

Whether it delivers those benefits will depend on the details still to come — particularly who owns and operates the projects, how quickly Venezuela can increase production and exactly what “majority U.S. control” means under the final agreement.