President Trump announced Friday that the United States has entered into a deal with Venezuela to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven oil reserves, calling it “the biggest oil deal in world history.”
How the Deal Came Together
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth negotiated the arrangement directly with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, securing majority U.S. control of the reserves at no upfront cost to American taxpayers, according to the administration’s account. Trump said the deal “more than doubles American oil reserves.”
The Backstory
The announcement comes roughly nine months after the U.S. military, at Trump’s direction, captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude in the ground, about 17% of the world’s total reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, meaning the deal covers roughly a fifth of the country’s total oil wealth.
Why Now
The announcement lands as Trump faces mounting pressure heading into the midterms: gas prices have climbed amid the six-month-old war with Iran, and voters across age groups have told pollsters they’re unhappy with the economy. Securing a large new source of oil outside the Middle East gives the administration a concrete talking point on energy security independent of the Strait of Hormuz situation.
What’s Still Unclear
The White House has not released the full text of the agreement, and it’s not yet clear what Venezuela is receiving in return for ceding majority control of the reserves, what happens to existing production-sharing arrangements with other countries, or how quickly the deal would translate into additional oil reaching U.S. markets.
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