US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington had reached an agreement with Venezuela granting the United States majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven oil reserves. He announced the deal in a post on his social-media platform.
Trump described the arrangement as “the biggest oil deal in world history.” He said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez. The president said the agreement was brokered through a partnership with private business.
The specific terms of the deal were not released. Trump did not detail how the reserves would be developed, which companies would take part, or how revenue would be divided between the two governments. No formal text of the agreement has been published by either side.
Venezuela holds among the largest proven oil reserves in the world. Its output has fallen sharply over the past decade under years of sanctions, underinvestment and political turmoil. The 65 billion barrels cited by Trump represents a portion of the country’s total reserves.
The announcement follows earlier US moves to secure a stake in Venezuelan oil, a plan that drew an opposition charge of a “predatory” grab. Critics have questioned how a foreign government would obtain majority control over another state’s natural resources.
Rodríguez has served as interim president during a contested political period in Caracas. The government has not issued a public statement matching Trump’s characterisation of the deal. It remains unclear whether Venezuela’s national assembly or state oil company will be required to ratify any terms.
Trump’s post named the two US cabinet officials directly. Rubio and Hegseth have both been involved in recent US policy toward LatAmerica and energy security. Neither department released independent confirmation of the agreement’s structure on Friday.
Oil markets have been sensitive to policy shifts throughout the year. Any large addition of Venezuelan barrels to global supply chains would depend on the lifting of sanctions and heavy investment in the country’s degraded infrastructure.
Both governments are expected to provide further detail on the agreement’s scope and timeline in the coming days.