Trump claims U.S. majority control of 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil

The announcement followed weeks of negotiations over an agreement that would give American companies long-term access to a group of Venezuelan oilfields and guarantee the resulting crude supply to the US.

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Venezuelan officials are preparing to sign agreements next week granting new oil exploration and production rights to a number of companies, particularly US firms.

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The announcement followed weeks of negotiations over an agreement that would give American companies long-term access to a group of Venezuelan oilfields and guarantee the resulting crude supply to the US.

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Sources previously told Reuters news agency that a lease model was under consideration, with fields potentially auctioned to US producers, but the arrangement could face legal and constitutional challenges in Venezuela, where the state retains control over core oil industry activities.

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Sources previously told Reuters news agency that a lease model was under consideration, with fields potentially auctioned to US producers, but the arrangement could face legal and constitutional challenges in Venezuela, where the state retains control over core oil industry activities.

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The new deal would represent a dramatic expansion of Washington’s role in Venezuela’s oil industry as the Trump administration seeks to revive the country’s production and secure more crude for US refineries.

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Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but produces only 1.25 million barrels per day, far below its potential after years of underinvestment, mismanagement and sanctions.

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The new deal would represent a dramatic expansion of Washington’s role in Venezuela’s oil industry as the Trump administration seeks to revive the country’s production and secure more crude for US refineries.

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Trump’s emphasis on lowering American gas prices, almost two months before the US midterm elections, comes as the national average gas price sits at more than $4 a gallon.

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The Iran war has disrupted a fifth of the world’s oil supply for six months, but it reached an inflection point in recent weeks: Billions of oil and fuel barrels in commercial stockpiles have vanished.

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The Iran war has disrupted a fifth of the world’s oil supply for six months, but it reached an inflection point in recent weeks: Billions of oil and fuel barrels in commercial stockpiles have vanished.

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In January, Venezuelan lawmakers approved a law change, backed by Rodríguez, to make it easier for foreign companies to take part in the country’s oil industry.

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But some analysts have reacted with scepticism, including questioning whether the deal would address long-running obstacles that have deterred investment in Venezuela's oil industry.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the oil deal "a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people". Few details were released.

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He vowed to tap into Venezuela's reserves, the world's largest, after the US captured its then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, ostensibly to stand trial on drug charges in New York.

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The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that US energy firms Chevron and Halliburton were nearing deals to invest billions in overhauling the infrastructure in Venezuela's oil fields, many of which have not been developed.

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Delcy Rodríguez - Maduro's former vice-president, who the US backed following his capture - gave the venture a 100-year concession to operate in the oil fields, the unnamed US official told CBS.

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However, production has plummeted since its peak in the late 1990s, in part due to a tightening of controls over its state-run oil firm and US sanctions targeting its main economic lifeline.

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Hours after US special forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a raid on the Venezuelan capital, Trump said the US would indefinitely control the sale of the country's oil.

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However, Venezuela's oil reserves are made up of so-called "heavy, sour" oil, which is harder to refine and used for making diesel and asphalt, while the US typically produces "light, sweet" oil useful for making petrol.

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Trump has asked US oil firms to invest at least $100bn (£75bn) to restore the country's oil industry.

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WASHINGTON — Besides a social media post from President Trump, the White House has said little about what he is calling “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY” in Venezuela.

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But the answers to questions such as how soon the reserves could be drilled and who will pay to make it happen were not immediately clear.

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Neither side made clear who would pay for infrastructure investments and at what cost.

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The average price of gas in the U.S. stood at about $4.08 a gallon on Saturday, according to AAA.

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The U.S. will get 55% of the company’s effective output, but it was not clear what portion of that comes from the ownership stake and how much comes from the right to buy oil at cost.

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Separately from Trump’s announcement, Chevron already had been in talks to expand investment in the country.

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Chevron, the only U.S. oil company actively producing in Venezuela, declined to comment.

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It also is unclear how the industry will react.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country's untapped oil reserves, at cost.

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The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

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Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reaches a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight.

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The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

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The announcement of the deal comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump's direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela's then-president Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

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The U.S.-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20 per cent of the world petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.

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Days after the ouster of Maduro, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and called on them to rush back into Venezuela.

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Rodríguez, in one of her early moves after taking power, signed a law that opens the nation's oil sector to privatization and reversed a bedrock tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.

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Executives expressed interest in the opportunity but there was also a measure of caution given their past experience in the country.

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But because of dilapidated infrastructure, the country only produces about 1 per cent of the world's oil.

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Unlike other parts of the world, where geologists have to search for untapped oil, the reserves under Venezuela's soil are largely mapped and known, experts say.

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Venezuela’s estimated crude oil reserves are among the largest in the world, representing about 20 percent of total supply, according to the Energy Information Administration.

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The U.S. has largely controlled exports of crude oil from the South American nation since snatching Maduro from his home in early January.

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The news appears to give the Trump administration more direct control over the country’s fields, though developing the tar-like deposits of oil and shipping it to the coast for export is likely to take years.

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Energy Secretary Chris Wright was scheduled to fly to Venezuela next week, three people in the oil industry familiar with the plans said, though it was unclear whether the trip was connected to Trump’s Friday announcement.

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Several independent oil companies signed contracts earlier this month to drill for oil in Venezuela, though none of them have any history working in a region challenged by lack of investment and chaotic governing.

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U.S. refiners are well-positioned to process Venezuela’s heavy crude, but U.S. those plants have been running at near-maximum capacity for weeks and are not positioned to handle any significant infusion of new crude.

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And top administration officials traveled to Caracas in late April to secure memorandums of understanding that laid the groundwork for the kind of deal the president announced Friday.

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The Trump administration has been frustrated by U.S. companies’ reticence to reenter Venezuela, where several companies, including Exxon Mobil, saw previous assets worth billions of dollars seized by the government after former President Hugo Chavez nationalized the industry.

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The administration has been putting pressure on Rodriguez to have the country’s state-run oil company sign contracts with American companies, and she last month unveiled new regulations offering more favorable terms to international oil companies.

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The administration has been putting pressure on Rodriguez to have the country’s state-run oil company sign contracts with American companies, and she last month unveiled new regulations offering more favorable terms to international oil companies.

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