Trump Secures Control Over 65 Billion Barrels of Venezuelan Oil Reserves

The Trump administration has made significant moves to expand US control over future oil supplies and reduce Iran's ability to convert its energy resources into economic and geopolitical power.

The first move is in Venezuela, where an agreement was announced on August 28 that gives the US majority control over a structure linked to more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. This includes fields concentrated primarily in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo regions, with the Venezuelan government estimating that the arrangement could ultimately generate approximately $209 billion in tax revenues.

The agreement is not an immediate replacement for disrupted Gulf oil but provides long-term access to a strategic reservoir much closer to American refineries and less exposed to the Strait of Hormuz. Venezuela's oil has another characteristic that makes it particularly important to Washington: much of it is heavy crude, which creates an unusually strong industrial fit between Venezuelan resources and American refining capacity.

The second move is directed at Iran, where the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed cutting Banque Misr's UAE operations off from correspondent banking relationships with US financial institutions. This targets the financial infrastructure that allows Tehran to receive and move the proceeds of oil sales, which could jeopardize their access to the American financial system.