Trump Announces Venezuela Oil Deal Granting U.S. Access to 65 Billion Barrels of Reserves

President Donald Trump said Aug. 28, 2026 that his administration reached an agreement with Venezuela giving the United States access to 65 billion barrels of the country's proven oil reserves at cost. Trump announced the deal in a Truth Social post, calling it "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!" and crediting Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez with the negotiation (NPR).

Under the agreement, the United States would partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to manage the reserves, according to a U.S. official. Rodríguez granted the new company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields. The deal gives the United States a 55% effective stake in the company's output, meaning the U.S. would hold an ownership share and have the right to buy oil at cost — the raw price of production, with no profit markup added. The new company would become the second largest corporate holder of proven oil reserves in the world, behind only Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil company (NPR).

Rodríguez's government said the deal covers 17 oil fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. Venezuela's government said the arrangement could draw $100 billion in investment into its oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas. Rodríguez said the deal "will have a significant impact on our nation's revival" in a Telegram posting (NPR).

Trump said the agreement gives the U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves at no cost to the American taxpayer (Reuters). Rubio said the deal could bring nearly $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela and help lower U.S. gasoline prices (Reuters).

Reporting by Reuters and Axios on Aug. 27, 2026 preceded the announcement, with both outlets reporting that the Trump administration was close to a deal securing long-term access to Venezuelan crude reserves. Reuters, citing sources, reported that administration officials were working on the agreement. Axios reported the U.S. was in talks with Venezuela's interim government about taking an ownership stake that would more than double American oil reserves (Reuters; Axios). Separately, Reuters reported Aug. 28 that Chevron was set to complete a deal in Venezuela to migrate and expand oil projects, according to sources (Reuters).

The deal comes amid sustained pressure on U.S. energy markets. The average price of gasoline in the United States stood at about $4.09 a gallon on Aug. 28, 2026, according to AAA, up from $3.21 a year earlier. The U.S. has tapped its Strategic Petroleum Reserve — the emergency oil stockpile maintained by the federal government — which fell below 300 million barrels in early August 2026, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of the year (NPR).

The U.S.-Israel war against Iran reached a six-month milestone on Aug. 28, 2026 with no conclusion in sight. The conflict has sharply reduced the flow of Gulf oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel through which about 20% of the world's petroleum passed before the war (NPR).

The announcement came nearly nine months after the U.S. military, at Trump's direction, carried out an operation to capture Venezuela's then-President Nicolás Maduro and bring him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. Days after Maduro's removal, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and urged them to return to Venezuela, though executives expressed caution given their past experience in the country (NPR).

The administration's Venezuela oil policy has moved through several stages. On Jan. 9, 2026, the White House published a fact sheet titled "President Donald J. Trump Safeguards Venezuelan Oil Revenue for the Good of the American and Venezuelan People," in which Trump ordered a total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela (White House). Earlier, the administration imposed a 25% tariff on all goods imported into the United States from any country that imports Venezuelan oil, directly or indirectly, effective on or after April 2, 2025 (White House).

Experts cautioned that a substantial increase in Venezuelan oil production will not happen quickly. Repairing and expanding infrastructure takes years and requires billions of dollars, they said (NPR). That caution from analysts echoes the reluctance Trump met from oil executives at the White House meeting after Maduro's removal, when executives cited their past experience in the country as a reason for restraint.

The broader context here is that the structural details of the agreement point to a novel arrangement in international energy governance. The creation of a new private company with 100-year development rights, a 55% U.S. effective output stake, and an unnamed private operator places the deal outside the framework of traditional concession or production-sharing agreements — the standard models by which governments grant oil companies the right to drill. Whether the arrangement can deliver near-term supply relief depends on the pace of field rehabilitation, the security of the operating environment, and the willingness of private capital to commit to a country where U.S. sanctions policy has shifted multiple times in under two years.