United States President Donald Trump has announced an agreement that he says will give the US majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves.
The amount represents about one-fifth of Venezuela’s total reserves.
Trump says the agreement was secured through negotiations involving senior US officials, Venezuela’s interim government and private companies, at no cost to American taxpayers.
Venezuela has confirmed the agreement but described it differently.
In an official statement, the government focused on private investment, increased production and the rebuilding of its oil infrastructure.
It did not explain what “majority US control” would mean.
Venezuela says the agreement marks a milestone in its relations with Washington and could play a major role in the country’s economic recovery.
The plan calls for private operators to help develop 17 strategic oilfields with the potential to produce from reserves totalling 65 billion barrels.
The Venezuelan government projects more than 100 billion US dollars in investment and over 209 billion US dollars in taxes for the state.
It says the money would help restore and modernise the country’s oil industry, create jobs, increase workers’ incomes and support wider economic growth.
The announcement follows weeks of negotiations aimed at giving American companies long-term access to Venezuelan oilfields. In return, more of the crude produced would be supplied to US refineries.
Venezuelan officials are expected to grant new exploration and production rights to several companies next week, with American firms expected to feature prominently.
The oilfields under consideration are reportedly located in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo regions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the agreement could provide the United States with a stable supply of lower-cost oil and eventually help reduce gasoline prices.
But significant questions remain.
Trump has not identified the participating companies or individual oilfields, explained how the US would exercise majority control, or disclosed the agreement’s legal and financial structure.
Venezuelan law also preserves state control over the country’s oil industry, raising questions about the legal basis of the proposed arrangement.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves but produces only about 1.25 million barrels per day.
Years of underinvestment, sanctions, political uncertainty and weak infrastructure have sharply reduced output.
Its heavy crude also requires specialised facilities to extract, transport and refine.
That means the agreement is unlikely to lower US gasoline prices immediately. Rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry and significantly increasing production could take several years.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration faces pressure to address rising fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections.
