Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of ۶۵bn 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 brokered “through a partnership with private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
The administration, Trump wrote, has “secured majority U.S. control of more than ۶۵ BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer”.
Trump said the agreement would more than double American oil reserves.
“This deal is a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people,” Rubio wrote on social media.
Trump’s announcement provided few details on the structure of the agreement, the fields or companies involved, or how the US would exercise majority control over the reserves.
Venezuela has an estimated ۳۰۳bn barrels of proven oil reserves, the world’s largest.
Since the US captured and removed former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power in January, Washington has been trying to secure a stable flow of Venezuelan crude oil for US refineries while promoting American investment into the Opec country’s deteriorated energy industry, which produces ۱.۲۵m barrels per day of crude.
Trump is under pressure before November’s midterm elections over rising gasoline prices, which could be eased through cheaper oil supplies and expanded output.
The US also has been looking for solutions to replenish its strategic petroleum reserve, the oil stockpile, including the possibility of crude swaps with US producers.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was “in advanced talks with Venezuela for the U.S. to take a direct stake in more than a dozen oilfields that house nearly one-third of the country’s massive energy reserves”. Axios also reported on the negotiations, quoting a US official who claimed the deal would be “massive”.
The discussion was reportedly over a US stake in Venezuela’s most promising oil-and-gasfields, with some ۹۰bn barrels of proven reserves.
The reports caused unease and anger among members of Venezuela’s opposition, who are already up in arms about Trump’s failure to bring about genuine political change after capturing Maduro.
“It’s a land grab – a massive land grab,” said one well-known opposition figure who asked not to be named because of the sensitivities of criticizing the US. “It’s revolting because this is not the United States one would have [expected]. This is not the United States of the Marshall plan. This is a rapacious, mafioso United States.”
The announcement comes as Chevron and other US energy companies are expected to sign a deal next week investing billions in Venezuela’s oil fields, according to the Journal.
Tom Phillips and Reuters contributed reporting
