President Donald Trump announced a historic oil agreement on Friday with Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez. Under the terms of the pact, the United States will take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. This move is intended to bolster US oil supplies for years to come, potentially more than doubling American oil reserves at a time when the strategic petroleum reserve is at a 40-year low.
The agreement was brokered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth through a partnership with private business. The deal would give the U.S. a direct stake in 17 of Venezuela's most promising oil-and-gas fields, including green fields in the Orinoco Belt, which house approximately 90 billion barrels of crude oil. The administration aims to have American companies revive Venezuela's battered energy industry, which possesses the largest proven oil reserves in the world at an estimated 303 billion barrels, to help lower US fuel prices.
This announcement comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military, at Trump's direction, captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. While President Trump noted that the U.S. has already collected over $13 billion from the sale of Venezuelan crude, the new pact may face legal challenges and could cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. The administration will work with a private Venezuelan oil company with close ties to the government as part of a broader push to establish U.S. dominance over the Western Hemisphere.