US to control 65bn barrels of Venezuela oil: Trump

US President Donald Trump has announced a landmark agreement under which the United States will control more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves, as Washington moves to expand its access to the world’s largest oil reserves.

Trump said the deal would more than double US oil reserves, increase domestic supply and help lower fuel prices for American consumers.

He announced the agreement in a social media post on Friday (August 28).

Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez welcomed the deal, saying it would help revive the country’s battered oil industry and broader economy.

The agreement covers the development of 17 strategic oil fields with proven potential of about 65 billion barrels. Rodriguez said the deal would bring more than $100 billion in investment and generate over $209 billion in tax revenue for the Venezuelan state.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the agreement as “a huge win” for both countries, saying it could bring nearly $100 billion in private investment, create thousands of high-paying jobs and support the reconstruction of Venezuela’s economy.

Trump said Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth negotiated the agreement with Venezuela’s leadership through a partnership with private businesses. He did not disclose further details of the arrangement or the specific commitments made by Washington.

A US official told CBS News, the BBC’s media partner, that the US government would retain a 55 percent controlling stake in a joint venture with an experienced private operator in Venezuela. Rodriguez has reportedly granted the venture a 100-year concession to operate the oil fields.

The announcement comes after Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this year. On January 3, US special forces seized then-President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in an operation authorised by Trump.

Following the raid, Trump said his administration would oversee Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” and indicated that the US would indefinitely control the sale of Venezuelan oil.

Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the largest such reserves in the world. However, its oil production has fallen sharply from its peak in the late 1990s.

Trump has previously called on US oil companies to invest at least $100 billion to restore Venezuela’s oil industry, while accusing Caracas of unlawfully seizing US oil assets in the past.

Source: BBC