US official says joint venture gets 100-year concession on 63 billion barrels
President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the US has reached an agreement with Venezuela to take control of more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven oil reserves, calling the arrangement a “Historic Transaction” that would “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans.”
The announcement said the deal was struck with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez through a partnership with private business. Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had reached the agreement with Rodriguez. Rubio, in a separate social media post, described it as “a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people” and said it would bring “nearly $100 billion in private investment, support thousands of high-paying jobs, and drive the reconstruction of Venezuela’s economy.”
Trump said the agreement was reached “at no cost to the American Taxpayer.” He did not elaborate on the partnership or describe possible commitments and terms for the US.
According to a US official who spoke to BBC media partner CBS, Rodriguez granted a private joint venture a 100-year concession to operate in oil fields holding 63 billion barrels of petroleum. The official described the enterprise as “a joint project of the U.S. government and an experienced private operator in Venezuela.” The US government will retain 55% control, divided between equity in the venture and the right to obtain oil from it at cost.
As of the BBC’s latest update, Rodriguez had not publicly commented on the announcement, and details of the agreement have not been released.
The announcement follows the January 3 US military operation that removed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from power. In the hours after the raid, Trump said his administration would run Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could take place, adding that the US would indefinitely control the sale of the country’s oil. Trump has also said the US would be “turning over” up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the United States.
Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world, an estimated 303 billion barrels, though production has plummeted from its peak in the late 1990s. Trump has asked US oil firms to invest at least $100 billion to restore the country’s oil industry. He has also claimed rights to Venezuela’s oil, alleging the country had in the past “unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars.”
His administration has faced domestic pressure to bring down US gasoline prices, which Trump cited in the social-media post announcing the agreement.