Trump says US has entered deal with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves

President Donald Trump announced what he called the “biggest oil deal in world history” between the United States and Venezuela, potentially giving the U.S. extraordinary access to Venezuelan oil reserves at a time when the Iran war has disrupted global energy supplies and pushed American gasoline prices above $4 a gallon.

Under the reported agreement, Venezuela would allow a new private company, involving the United States and an unnamed private operator, to develop 17 oil fields containing an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. A U.S. official says the company would receive 100-year development rights, with the United States receiving an effective 55% share of its output through ownership and the right to purchase oil at cost. Venezuela says the arrangement could attract roughly $100 billion in investment and eventually generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue.

The deal represents a dramatic transformation in U.S.-Venezuelan relations. It comes about nine months after the U.S. military captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who remains jailed in the United States on federal narcoterrorism and drug-trafficking charges. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has since moved away from parts of Venezuela’s socialist economic model, including opening the country's oil industry to greater private investment.

The immediate motivation for Washington is partly energy security. The six-month U.S.-Israel war with Iran has severely reduced oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen below 300 million barrels after declining by more than 100 million barrels during 2026. American gasoline prices are averaging about $4.09 per gallon, compared with $3.21 a year ago. Oil purchased through the Venezuelan venture could eventually be used both to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and supply the U.S. military.

The important caveat is that this will not quickly produce cheap gasoline. Venezuela possesses roughly 303 billion barrels of crude—about 17% of the world's reserves—but currently produces only around 1% of global oil because decades of underinvestment and deteriorating infrastructure have crippled production. Restoring those fields would require tens of billions of dollars and several years.

So the larger significance is geopolitical as much as economic: Washington is attempting to bring one of the world's largest oil reserves into a U.S.-aligned economic structure while simultaneously reducing America's vulnerability to Middle Eastern oil disruptions. If the agreement survives Venezuela's political instability and attracts major oil-company investment, it could eventually reshape both Venezuela's economy and the Western Hemisphere's energy balance.