Trump says US has deal with Venezuela for control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States had reached a deal with Venezuela to control 65 billion barrels of the country's oil reserves. The agreement, according to Trump, was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez. The US President stated, "The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!"

This announcement follows a September operation where the US military, at Trump's direction, captured then-President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the US to face charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. Trump is under increasing pressure to deal with high petrol prices as the ongoing war in Iran continues with no end in sight.

In recent months, the US has drawn on its strategic petroleum reserves, which had fallen to under 300 million barrels by early August, a decrease of over 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

Following Maduro's removal in January, Trump had previously suggested US oil companies could return to Venezuela to exploit its oil reserves. He argued that Venezuela had stolen US oil when former President Hugo Chavez nationalised hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies, decades ago. Venezuela is home to one of the world's largest oil reserves, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil buried beneath its soil, making up about 17 per cent of the world's supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Despite having mapped reserves, Venezuela only currently produces around 1 per cent of the world's oil due to poor infrastructure.