Venezuela Deal Sparks Skepticism Over Ownership Structure and Revenue Figures

The US government's deal with Venezuela, touted by President Trump as 'the biggest oil deal in world history', is facing scrutiny. The agreement aims to secure majority US control of over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, but details are murky.

A Pentagon spokesman contradicted the reported ownership structure, and the company set to run the fields has changed hands under unclear circumstances just weeks before the deal was announced.

Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez called the agreement 'historic', describing a 25-year contract covering 17 oilfields with a production target of 1.5 million barrels per day, but neither side has released the text of the agreement.

Crude oil prices jumped more than 2% on Monday, but not due to the Venezuela deal. The US strike on Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz was the actual cause.