Trump announces new US oil agreement with Venezuela
US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves. The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been…
US President Donald Trump announced a new oil agreement with Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez, claiming the US will gain "majority" control of 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. The specific terms of the deal remain unspecified, but Trump stated it had been reached through a private business partnership involving Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The administration reported securing majority US control of over 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela, without incurring any costs to American taxpayers. This deal is projected to more than double American oil reserves. Trump's announcement provided minimal details about the agreement's structure, the fields or companies involved, or how the US would exercise majority control over the reserves.
Venezuela is estimated to possess 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the world's largest. Since the US ousted former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, Washington has strived to maintain a stable flow of Venezuelan crude oil to US refineries and foster American investment in the country's underdeveloped energy sector, which produces 1.25 million barrels daily.
With pressure building ahead of November's midterm elections due to rising gasoline prices, the US seeks cheaper oil supplies and enhanced output. The US has also explored options to replenish its strategic petroleum reserve, a stockpile of oil. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was engaged in advanced discussions with Venezuela regarding the US taking a direct stake in more than a dozen oilfields, housing nearly one-third of the country's vast energy reserves.
Axios also covered the negotiations, citing a US official who described the deal as "massive". Opposition figures expressed outrage at the US's lack of genuine political change efforts following the capture of Maduro, deeming the agreement a "land grab" and a "rapacious, mafioso United States".
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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