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 entered into a historic agreement with Venezuela, potentially granting access to 17 oil fields containing a total of 65 billion barrels of untapped reserves. According to Trump, the agreement was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

If realized, the deal could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and generate over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.

The agreement allows the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new company with 100-year rights to develop the oil fields. This company would have a 55% effective output share, including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost, making it the second-largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco. The oil bought from the new company would be used to fill the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and for military purposes.

Venezuela, which has an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil, produces only about 1% of the world's oil due to dilapidated infrastructure. The new agreement could potentially lead to a significant boost in Venezuelan oil production, but this will take years and billions of dollars to implement. Trump has claimed that his administration has brought stability to Venezuela, despite previous criticism from American oil executives who remain cautious about investing in the country.