Trump Announces Landmark US-Venezuela Oil Deal

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States has entered into a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that would give Washington control of up to 65 billion barrels of the South American nation’s oil reserves, a deal he called “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” The announcement, made via social media, was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, according to AP News.

The Deal at a Glance

The agreement involves the development of 17 oil fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels of reserves. Under the terms, the United States will receive 55% effective output of a new private company, including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost, according to a US official familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity. Rodríguez granted the company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields, though she publicly stated the deal would last 25 years.

The arrangement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela’s oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas, according to a statement from Rodríguez’s government. The resulting company would become the second-largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco.

The deal reportedly involves North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a company led by controversial Venezuelan investor Alejandro Betancourt, who has emerged as a key intermediary between the Trump administration and Rodríguez. The US government plans to take a 35% passive stake in NABEP and secure preferential rights to purchase 20% of the company’s production at cost, according to the Wall Street Journal. The operation would be conducted by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.

Context: A Dramatic Realignment

The deal represents the culmination of a dramatic realignment in US-Venezuela relations following the January 3, 2026 US military operation that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York on federal drug trafficking charges. Hours after the capture, Trump said the US would indefinitely control the sale of Venezuela’s oil.

Trump warned Rodríguez in January that she would face an even worse fate than Maduro if she failed to comply with US demands. Rodríguez subsequently signed a law opening the nation’s oil sector to privatization, reversing a bedrock tenet of the socialist movement that has ruled Venezuela for more than two decades.

The Iran War and Oil Prices

The deal comes at a critical moment for the Trump administration. The US-Iran war, which began on February 28, 2026, has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s petroleum passed prior to the conflict. This has driven up global oil prices and pushed US gas prices above $4 per gallon for the first time in history for an entire month of August, according to Al Jazeera.

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been drawn down to approximately 290 million barrels — near a 44-year low. Trump has said the Venezuelan oil from the deal will be used to refill the reserve, calling it a “Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States” in a Truth Social post on Sunday.

Rodríguez Defends the Agreement

In a televised national address on Saturday, Rodríguez defended the deal, insisting Venezuela retains ownership and sovereignty over its resources. “The benefits are endless,” she said, according to The Guardian. “As everyone knows, our country has the biggest oil reserves in the world. But having resources underground isn’t enough. We need investment, technology, infrastructure [and] production capacity to convert this wealth into wellbeing for our people.”

Rodríguez said the project targets 1.5 million barrels per day from the 17 designated fields. Venezuela would receive $19 per barrel of oil produced and sold to the US. She also said the deal would help the country become “an energy powerhouse, a major oil producer, a significant gas exporter, and a major national petrochemical developer.”

Outrage in Venezuela

The deal has provoked outrage both among members of Venezuela’s opposition and within the Chavismo political movement. Protests erupted in Caracas organized by the Popular Anti-Imperialist Front, with banners reading “We are neither a colony, nor a back yard” and “Yankees go home!”

Rafael Ramírez, former head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, accused Rodríguez’s administration of “driving a dagger straight into the heart of the homeland” with the “neocolonial” transaction. “They are handing over 65bn barrels of our reserves to the United States. That has never happened in Venezuela, and I think nowhere else in the world,” Ramírez said.

Harvard University professor Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan planning minister, called it a “shameful deal,” saying Rodríguez “has no legitimacy or constitutional power to commit Venezuela to any such deal.” Opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa said the energy deal was like “a skyscraper [built] on pillars of clay” without free elections.

Legal and Transparency Concerns

Legal experts have raised significant concerns about the deal’s legality and transparency. Venezuelan law does not currently provide for leasing oil acreage, while the constitution reserves core industry activities for the state. The deal was forged in secrecy, bypassing any competitive tender.

David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, said there was “no precedent” for the US government entering into a lease to operate Venezuelan oil fields. “It is hard to see how this kind of arrangement would accelerate investment at any material scale,” he told BBC News.

Amos Hochstein, former senior energy adviser to President Biden, warned that Democrats could challenge the deal if they regain power in Washington, as could future administrations in Venezuela. “There will be a lot of challenges to what was just announced,” Hochstein said. “I can only say, if it were me, I’d be nervous.”

Congressional Reaction

The deal has split Congress along party lines. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) called it a historic deal that helps both countries. “If it were up to DC Democrats, Maduro would still be in power, Venezuelan oil would be going to China at half price, and the people of Venezuela would be getting robbed by a corrupt regime,” Moreno wrote on social media.

Democrats condemned the arrangement. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) branded it “corruption at epic scale,” questioning whether prices would come down for Americans. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Trump “put our service members at risk to get Venezuelan oil for his billionaire buddies.”

What’s Next

The deal faces significant hurdles before Venezuelan oil can flow to US refineries and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Experts caution that Venezuela’s dilapidated infrastructure will take years and billions of dollars to repair, and that a substantial boost in production will not happen quickly.

“It’s going to take time — many years — to deploy that much capital and produce the kind of incremental results that history suggests possible,” said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners.

Amy Myers Jaffe, director of the Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab at NYU, said the deal could be “helpful in the long run, but it’s not going to do anything to change the price of gasoline at the retail station for Labor Day weekend.”

Rachel Ziemba of the Center for New American Security echoed that sentiment, telling the BBC News Channel: “This is unlikely to have any material impact on global oil supplies in the next month or even the next year.”

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to travel to Caracas in the coming days as the administration works to implement the agreement. The full text of the deal has not been published, and many questions remain about the identity of the private operator, the legal basis for the arrangement, and whether it will survive future political transitions in both countries.

As Venezuelanalysis reported, the deal has also raised questions about whether Venezuela is considering leaving OPEC as part of the realignment, which would mark another significant shift in global energy politics. For now, the world watches as one of the most consequential energy agreements in modern history begins to take shape — and as its many unanswered questions remain.