Trump says U.S. to take control of 65B barrels of Venezuela oil reserves in new deal

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States has secured a monumental oil deal with Venezuela, resulting in the country granting majority control of 65 billion barrels of proven petroleum reserves to America. The administration is calling this transaction "the biggest oil deal in world history," which is expected to generate nearly US$100 billion (approximately RM402.6 billion) in private investment for Venezuela, as stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Venezuela is the nation with the world's largest proven oil reserves, and since January, its government has faced intense pressure and scrutiny from the Trump administration following the ousting and capture of former President Nicolas Maduro. Despite this, the interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, continued to serve under the conditions of aligning with the US.

Trump's announcement on his Truth Social platform emphasized the deal's potential to double the US's oil reserves. Although the Venezuelan government has not yet confirmed the arrangement, Trump claimed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brokered the deal "through a partnership with private business."

According to Trump, this transaction will bolster the already strengthening relationship between Venezuela and the United States. Rubio highlighted how this deal aligns with President Trump's "bold foreign policy" by securing stable oil reserves and low-cost oil for the hemisphere, which will subsequently reduce gas prices in the US.

The deal is projected to bring approximately US$100 billion (RM402.6 billion) in private investment, create thousands of high-paying jobs, and aid in Venezuela's economic reconstruction. Axios reported earlier that the two countries were negotiating over a dozen productive oil fields containing 90 billion barrels of proven reserves, representing about a third of Venezuela's total proven reserves of 300 billion barrels.

In exchange for a US ownership stake, American firms would develop the fields and return more oil revenue to Venezuela. The deal is expected to more than double US oil reserves at a time when the US strategic petroleum reserve is at a 40-year low. Trump further asserted that the deal will lower gasoline prices for Americans, a significant concern as his approval ratings decline ahead of the November midterm elections following the US's intervention in Iran, which has disrupted global oil supplies.

The Trump administration has long encouraged US companies to invest in Venezuela; however, many remain hesitant due to the country's deteriorating infrastructure and the history of foreign investors' assets being appropriated by the Venezuelan government. Chevron, the only US oil company still operating in Venezuela when Maduro was removed from power, reported in July that it had increased its daily crude production to 280,000 barrels and plans to boost output by an additional 50% by the end of 2028.