US-Govt Deal Puts Venezuela's Oil Wealth at Stake

Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodriguez says her government will retain ownership and sovereignty over its oil resources under a landmark agreement granting the United States significant access to Venezuela's vast petroleum reserves.

The deal, hailed by US President Donald Trump as 'the biggest oil deal in world history', would give Washington majority control over development involving some 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves. Rodriguez defended the agreement as a way to transform the country's underdeveloped oil reserves into a source of economic and social prosperity.

The Venezuelan government says the agreement could attract around $100 billion in private investment to revive an oil industry that has suffered from years of economic crisis, sanctions, underinvestment, and declining production. However, some citizens and even government supporters have questioned whether the country will receive sufficient benefits in return for granting Washington such extensive access to its energy resources.

Venezuela's oil production increased by 29.8 percent between January and July, reaching around 1.2 million barrels per day. The new agreement seeks to eventually restore production toward historic levels of roughly three million barrels per day a quarter-century ago.