US Will Take Majority Control of Vast Venezuelan Oil Reserves

President Donald Trump said the U.S. would take majority control of a vast portion of Venezuela’s oil wealth under an arrangement encompassing more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The venture would give Washington control of 55% of its effective output and access to crude at cost, according to a U.S. official.

Officials said the entity would become the world’s second-largest corporate holder of proven oil reserves, behind Saudi Aramco.

A 65 Billion-Barrel Venture

Trump disclosed the agreement in a Truth Social post on Friday night, saying the arrangement had been reached with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and private businesses.

The project would cover 17 strategic oil fields under concessions lasting 100 years, according to officials cited in the draft.

Rodríguez confirmed the agreement in a Telegram statement, describing it as “historic.” She said the projects would generate $209 billion in taxes but did not specify the ownership split.

The U.S. official said Washington would control 55% of the joint venture's effective production.

The output would provide oil to the U.S. at cost, contribute to the strategic petroleum reserve, and supply the American military, the official said.

Trump Deepens U.S. Role in Venezuela

The arrangement would substantially expand Washington’s direct role in Venezuela’s energy sector following months of U.S. pressure on the country.

The announcement follows the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro in January, the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers and strikes on boats alleged to have transported drugs from Venezuela.

More than 200 people were killed in those strikes, according to the draft.

Trump has since sought greater U.S. influence over Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources, while repeatedly emphasizing the flow of Venezuelan crude and oil revenues toward the U.S.

The oil initiative also fits his broader effort to increase federal involvement in strategically important industries, including semiconductors, critical minerals and batteries.

Legal and Political Risks

The durability of the agreement remains uncertain.

Any long-term investment would depend partly on whether a future U.S. administration maintained the arrangement and whether later Venezuelan governments continued to recognize its terms.

“The Trump administration’s reported push to secure a stake in Venezuela’s oil reserves is likely to be counterproductive to long-term investment in the industry, primarily because of the political risk it introduces,” Chris Kennedy, economic statecraft lead for Bloomberg Economics, wrote in a note.

“Few companies are likely to be willing to make major greenfield investments given the risk that a post-Trump US administration would abandon this effort, or that a new, democratically elected Venezuelan government wouldn’t honor such a deal,” he added.

The agreement also prompted criticism from Venezuelans on social media, including accusations that Rodríguez was “giving away” national oil resources and questions over the absence of a timetable for elections or a democratic transition.

Investment Questions Remain

The scale of Venezuela’s reserves does not eliminate the challenge of raising production.

The country produced 1.16 million barrels a day in July, according to a Bloomberg survey cited in the draft, less than half its output a decade earlier after years of underinvestment, corruption and the departure of Western energy groups.

Rehabilitating production and processing Venezuela’s ultra-heavy crude would require large amounts of capital.

“Above all, a credible road map to durable political stability is needed to convince oil majors to invest tens of billions, particularly to build expensive upgrader units needed to process ultra-heavy Venezuelan oil,” said Clay Seigle, a senior nonresident scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Alejandro Velasco, an associate professor at New York University, called the structure “completely unprecedented” and said Venezuela “risks becoming a playground of US capitalism.”

Oil Security and U.S. Strategy

The deal comes as governments compete for energy supplies amid disruption caused by the war in Iran and as Trump faces domestic concerns over gasoline prices and inflation ahead of the November midterm elections.

Trump has framed a stronger U.S. position in Venezuela as part of a wider push to consolidate American influence across the Western Hemisphere and counter China’s presence in the region.

If implemented as described, the new venture would place one of the world’s largest pools of proven crude reserves under majority U.S. control while giving Washington direct access to production for strategic and military requirements.