President Donald Trump says the United States has struck what he called the “biggest oil deal in world history”: an agreement giving the U.S. majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven crude reserves.
The scale is extraordinary. Sixty-five billion barrels would equal roughly one-fifth of Venezuela’s estimated 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves—and more than 50 years of the country’s current production at about 1.25 million barrels a day.
But as of late Friday, August 28, the public had not seen the agreement. Trump’s announcement named no oil fields, no private companies, no financial terms and no mechanism explaining how a foreign government would exercise “majority control” over reserves that Venezuela’s constitution places under state authority.
What Trump announced
Trump disclosed the agreement in a social-media post Friday evening. He said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth worked with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and private businesses to secure control of the reserves “at no cost to the American taxpayer.”
Reuters reported that the announcement followed weeks of negotiations over long-term U.S. access to a group of Venezuelan oil fields. The Associated Press also confirmed the president’s statement but said the White House had not identified the private partners or explained how the arrangement would work.
Venezuela’s government press office did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
Why 65 billion barrels is such a striking number
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude-oil reserves. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the country holds about 303 billion barrels—approximately 17% of the global total.
Yet possessing oil underground is not the same as producing market-ready gasoline. Venezuela pumps only about 1% of the world’s oil because years of underinvestment, sanctions, damaged infrastructure and political turmoil have severely limited output.
Much of its crude is also heavy and requires specialized production, transportation and refining. Even if the agreement survives legal scrutiny and attracts billions of dollars, new output could take years to reach consumers.
The biggest unanswered questions
Reuters reported that officials had considered a lease-style structure involving as many as 17 fields, with American producers potentially competing for development rights. That concept faces an immediate complication: Venezuela’s existing hydrocarbons rules do not provide for conventional acreage leases, while the constitution reserves the industry’s core activities to the state.
Trump did not say whether the announced agreement uses that model. He also did not disclose:
- Which fields are included
- Which U.S. companies have joined
- How “majority control” will be defined or enforced
- Who will finance repairs, drilling, pipelines and export capacity
- How revenue will be divided
- When additional oil could begin reaching U.S. refineries
Rubio said the plan could bring nearly $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela, create thousands of jobs and provide the United States with stable, lower-cost crude. Those are administration projections, not yet demonstrated outcomes.
Why the timing matters
The announcement arrives as the White House faces pressure over energy costs. AP reported that the national average for gasoline was about $4.09 a gallon Friday, compared with $3.21 a year earlier. The administration has also drawn down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have slowed during the Iran war.
Venezuelan crude could eventually help U.S. Gulf Coast refineries designed to process heavy oil. But analysts cautioned that the deal cannot quickly erase infrastructure problems or legal uncertainty.
A historic claim awaiting a contract
The announcement is significant even before the fine print appears. It signals a dramatic expansion of Washington’s role in Venezuela’s oil sector and a push to bind the country’s largest resource more closely to U.S. companies and refineries.
For now, however, the clearest fact is the claim itself: Trump says control over 65 billion barrels has been secured. Whether that becomes a durable, legal and investable oil agreement will depend on documents and partners the administration has not yet made public.
