The United States and Venezuela on Friday announced that they have signed a ‘historic” oil deal which gives the U.S. majority control over the exploitation of more than 65 billion barrels of crude oil reserves in the Latin American country.
U.S. President Donald Trump described the deal via Truth Social as the “largest in world history”, assuring that it “more than doubles” – according to him – U.S. oil reserves.
He also said that the deal was signed “in close cooperation” with Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez and a group of “private companies”.
Caracas confirmed that it had signed a “historic” oil deal with Washington, with Ms. Rodriguez stressing that she “warmly thanked” her American counterpart, in a statement released via Telegram.
According to Rodriguez, the agreement provides for the “development of 17 strategic deposits,” potentially containing up to “65 billion barrels of oil,” and will result in “an investment of more than $100 billion” in the country and “tax revenues higher than $209 billion for the state.”
“For the people of Venezuela, this agreement will attract nearly $100 billion in private investment, support thousands of good-paying jobs, and help rebuild the economy” of the Latin American country, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said via X.
The largest oil reserves in the world
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world — estimated at more than 303 billion barrels. But its production remains relatively limited at present.
Meanwhile, the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) has fallen to its lowest level since November 1982, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Washington pledged to gradually release 172 million barrels of the 415 million it had in the SPR at the end of February, in order to alleviate the problems caused by the disruption of supply and the rise in oil prices following the outbreak of the ongoing war in the Middle East.
According to Donald Trump, the “historic” transaction between the two countries will lead to “significant reductions in fuel prices” “for all Americans” now and in the “long future”.
The U.S. president also claimed that this agreement “will not cost the American taxpayer anything”.
American control
After the American military operation in January that led to the capture of the then President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Donald Trump is seeking to intensify the exploitation of the country’s oil and gas reserves again, but under his own patronage this time.
The U.S. government has recently been trying to pressure American companies to operate in the Latin American state, but the results have been meager, as very heavy investments would be required to restore the country’s oil infrastructure and to intensify the extraction of black gold.
Hesitations are also caused by the nationalizations that Venezuelan governments have carried out in the past. There were two nationalizations in particular that affected ExxonMobil.
“The main problem in Venezuela” is “security,” John Kilduff, an analyst at Again Capital, told AFP.
In his view, Washington is likely to seek to create “a kind of state zone where American companies can set up shop, operate without consequences” and “eliminate the political risk that usually accompanies investments in Venezuela.”
According to Jorge Pinon, a researcher at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, there are still several “dark spots,” particularly regarding the risk that a future Venezuelan government could unexpectedly change the “rules of the game,” calling into question any agreement signed today.
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