Trump Announces Major Oil Deal with Venezuela Amid Global Energy Shift
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a deal that would grant the United States access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves, touting it as 'the biggest oil deal in world history.'
The agreement, negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, gives the U.S. government a 55% effective output of the new private company formed with an unnamed operator, North America Blue Energy Partners (NABEP). The company will have the rights to untapped oil fields for 100 years.
The deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels, which could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes. NABEP currently produces around 200,000 barrels per day and has existing infrastructure in place.
Trump claims that the agreement will help lower gas prices for Americans, but experts warn that Venezuela's dilapidated oil infrastructure will take years and billions of dollars to repair. The deal's terms are unclear, including who would pay for infrastructure investments and at what cost.