Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters
The U.S. leader wrote on his own social media platform, Truth Social:
“The United States of America has just signed the LARGEST OIL AGREEMENT IN WORLD HISTORY with Venezuela!
At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegset, working closely with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez and through a partnership with the private sector, have secured U.S. majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela at no cost to American taxpayers.”
According to CBS News sources within the U.S. administration, Venezuela’s interim president granted a 100-year concession to a newly created joint private venture to develop oil fields with reserves estimated at 63 billion barrels.
The U.S. government will receive a 55% stake in this venture, which will be divided between equity ownership in the company and the right to receive oil at cost.
U.S. officials note that the newly created entity will become the second-largest corporate owner of proven oil reserves in the world, after the Saudi state-owned company Saudi Aramco.
Details of the Deal
It is not yet clear exactly which private companies will participate, but only a few foreign oil and gas giants still maintain a presence in Venezuela, notably the American company Chevron, the Spanish company Repsol, and the Italian company Eni.
The U.S. Secretary of State noted that this agreement “will attract nearly $100 billion in private investment, create thousands of high-paying jobs, and stimulate Venezuela’s economic recovery.”
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, exceeding 300 billion barrels. By comparison, the U.S. has less than 50 billion barrels.
Despite its significant resources, Venezuela’s oil industry has long been in decline due to chronic underfunding, infrastructure deterioration, and stringent international sanctions.
In addition, most Western energy giants, notably ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, left the country nearly two decades ago following the nationalization of assets by former President Hugo Chávez. Chevron remained the only major American company to maintain a presence in Venezuela.
In early August, Trump stated that the U.S. was already earning “hundreds of billions of dollars” from Venezuelan oil.
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