Trump Announces Majority Control of 65 Billion Barrels of Venezuelan Reserves

Donald Trump announced on Friday, August 28, a deal granting the United States "majority control" over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves. The agreement was negotiated with interim president Delcy Rodríguez by Secretaries of State and Defense Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, according to the president's statement.

Venezuela holds approximately 303 billion barrels of proven reserves, the largest in the world, according to The Guardian. The announcement comes in the context of the bilateral normalization that followed the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026, along with the lifting of sanctions and Washington's interest in securing a stable flow of Venezuelan crude to its Gulf Coast refineries. The country, an OPEC member, produces 1.25 million barrels of crude per day, according to the same outlet. For the hemispheric oil market, the deal redefines who controls access to one of the world's largest reserves, in a space where Mexican and South American crude compete for the same U.S. refining demand.

The announcement did not specify the deal's structure: it named no fields, companies, or mechanism for exercising majority control. Trump stated that the transaction "more than doubles" U.S. reserves. Rubio estimated the deal will attract approximately $100 billion in private investment and "will support thousands of well-paying jobs," according to Aristegui Noticias. The Venezuelan opposition rejected the agreement: an opposition figure who asked not to be identified described it as a dispossession and characterized the U.S. administration as predatory and mafia-like, according to The Guardian. The same outlet reported that Washington was in advanced negotiations to take a direct stake in more than a dozen fields that hold nearly one-third of the country's reserves.

The next milestone will be the signing of the investment agreement by Chevron and other U.S. companies in Venezuelan fields, expected next week, according to The Guardian. The terms of the deal have not yet been published; the U.S. administration contends that the agreement will reduce gasoline prices over the long term.

This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.