US Secures Control Over $200bn Worth of Venezuelan Oil Reserves

Venezuela's oil industry has been at the center of its politics for nearly a century. The current governing party has preferred nationalizing the sector, using oil revenues to expand its influence in the region.

However, on January 3, 2026, US special forces abducted President Nicolas Maduro and whisked him back to the US to stand trial on guns-and-drugs charges.

The interim President Delcy Rodriguez has since aimed for privatising the oil industry in favor of US government interests.

Reforming the General Hydrocarbons Law, liberalising energy power plants, and granting permissions to US and foreign companies were some of the milestones reached during the past eight months.

Last week, the two countries announced they had reached a deal granting US companies access to 65 billion barrels of crude oil reserves over the next 100 years. President Trump described it as 'the biggest oil deal in world history.'