The US Just Claimed Control Over Some of the World's Biggest Oil Reserves — in Venezuela
President Donald Trump said the United States has reached a deal with Venezuela to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of the country's oil reserves. He said the deal would give Washington an ownership stake in Venezuelan oil fields and more than double American oil reserves. Trump announced the agreement in a social media post on August 28, 2026. Reuters New York Times
The announcement came one day after Reuters, citing sources, reported that Washington was nearing a deal to secure long-term access to Venezuela's oil reserves. Reuters Axios had reported the same day that the deal would give the US an ownership stake in Venezuela's oil fields and more than double American oil reserves. Axios
This deal did not come out of nowhere. It is the result of a monthslong push by the Trump administration to bring Venezuela's oil under American control. The effort began in March 2025, when the White House placed a 25% tariff (a tax on imported goods) on anything coming into the United States from countries that buy Venezuelan oil. This tax took effect April 2, 2025. White House The idea was simple: make it expensive for other countries to buy Venezuelan oil, so they stop buying it. That would squeeze Venezuela's economy and push its government toward a deal.
In January 2026, the approach shifted from pressure to pressure plus access. Trump ordered a blockade of oil tankers that were under sanctions (official penalties that restrict trade) going in and out of Venezuela. He did this through Executive Order 14373, issued January 9, 2026, which directed safeguards on Venezuelan oil revenue "for the good of the American and Venezuelan people." White House On the same day the blockade was announced, Caracas and Washington had already reached a separate deal, announced January 6, 2026, to export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States. Reuters Trump said that same month that US oil companies would spend billions of dollars in Venezuela. Reuters
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained the thinking behind the approach. Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28, 2026, Rubio said Venezuela has the largest known oil reserves in the world. State Department Weeks earlier, in a January 4 interview, Rubio said the United States "cannot continue to have the world's largest oil reserves under the control of adversaries of the United States." State Department
Chevron, the American oil company, plays a key role in making the deal work on the ground. On August 28, 2026, Reuters reported that Chevron was about to finalize negotiations to move all of its oil joint ventures in Venezuela into the country's new energy framework. Reuters A joint venture is when two or more companies share ownership of a project. That move builds on a deal Chevron announced in April 2026, through which the company received an additional 13.21% stake in the Petroindependencia, S.A. joint venture, raising its total share to 49%. Chevron Chevron describes itself as one of the leading private oil companies operating in Venezuela, with $100 million invested locally in onshore and offshore projects since 2006. Chevron
Venezuela tells a somewhat different version of the story. Venezuela's presidential website reports that the two countries signed technical-financial agreements and alliances in the energy area related to oil production. Venezuelan Presidency The same website states that the United States approved a license for Chevron to import oil and its derivatives from its Venezuelan subsidiaries. Venezuelan Presidency President Nicolás Maduro said Venezuela is prepared to receive US investments and supply oil to the United States. Venezuelan Presidency But the Venezuelan presidency's website also reported that Trump "confessed his intention was to seize Venezuelan oil," framing the deal as a takeover rather than a partnership. Venezuelan Presidency
The gap between those two descriptions is the fault line to watch. The US says it has an ownership stake in oil fields. Venezuela says it signed technical-financial agreements. Whether these are the same deal described in different words, or whether the two sides actually disagree on what was agreed to, is something the public record does not yet make clear.
Chevron's role adds another layer of uncertainty. The company's 49% stake in Petroindependencia makes it the primary Western oil operator on the ground in Venezuela. But 49% is still a minority share. How Chevron's holdings connect to the "majority control" Trump claims for the United States as a whole is not explained in any of the reporting. The relationship between Chevron's corporate position and the US government's claimed ownership stake remains unclear.
The broader context here is a major reordering of how Venezuela's oil sector is structured. The "new energy framework" into which Chevron is moving its joint ventures has not been publicly described in detail, but the fact that Chevron is migrating into it suggests that older arrangements, some going back to Chevron's 2006 entry into Venezuela, are being replaced. For a country whose oil sector has been under varying degrees of US sanctions since 2019, the shift from blocking and isolating Venezuela to claiming direct ownership of its oil is a major change in direction.
Several questions remain open. The specific oil fields covered by the US ownership stake have not been identified. The legal way in which a foreign government obtains majority ownership of another country's natural resources has not been explained. Whether the deal needs approval from Venezuela's legislature, or whether it could face legal challenges under Venezuelan constitutional rules about sovereignty over natural resources, has not been addressed. And Maduro's posture, welcoming US investment while his own presidential website accuses Trump of confessing an intent to seize Venezuelan oil, suggests that the deal's reception inside Venezuela may be contested.
What is verifiable is the trajectory. In eighteen months, US policy toward Venezuelan oil has gone from a tax on countries that buy Venezuelan oil, to a blockade of sanctioned tankers, to a $2 billion export deal, to a claim of majority control over 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. Whether the final step is a signed agreement or simply an announced intention, the direction is clear.
