President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has signed a broad deal with Venezuela that, if finalized, could give the United States access to large amounts of the South American country’s untapped oil reserves, at a cost. Trump, in a social media post announcing the deal, said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez. “The United States of America just entered into an agreement with the country of Venezuela on the BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote. The Rodríguez government in a statement said that the agreement involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. He said the deal could attract $100 billion in investment to Venezuela’s oil industry and generate more than $209 billion in taxes for Caracas. 1:48 Should Canada leverage energy exports to the US in a trade war? Rodríguez, in a post on Telegram, predicted that the agreement “will have a significant impact on the reactivation of our nation.” The deal allows the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take over the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal. The official, who was not authorized to make public comments and spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Rodríguez gave the company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields. Get the latest national news Get the latest Canadian news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you don’t miss any breaking news. The agreement gives the United States 55 percent of the new private company’s effective production, including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost. The company would be the second largest holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco, according to the official. Trump is under pressure to show he is reducing oil costs. The announcement comes nearly nine months after the US military, under the direction of Trump, carried out an operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and bring him to the United States to face federal charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. Trump faces growing pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reached a six-month milestone on Friday with no conclusion in sight. The United States has tapped its strategic oil reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, a decline of more than 100 million barrels since the beginning of 2026. The US-Israel war against Iran has caused a dramatic slowdown in the movement of Gulf oil through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passed before the conflict. The average price of gasoline in the United States stood at around $4.09 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price was $3.21 at the same time last year. A significant drop in US gas prices linked to the deal should not be immediately expected. Experts have repeatedly warned that a substantial increase in Venezuelan oil production will not come quickly, as repairing and expanding infrastructure takes years and requires billions of dollars. Persuading big American oil companies to return to the region could face headwinds given political uncertainty and decades of severely damaged infrastructure. Days after Maduro’s ouster, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and called on them to quickly return to Venezuela. Executives expressed interest in the opportunity, but there was also some caution given their past experience in the country. More on US news More videos 2:12 Canadian drilling company says it did not move unauthorized rig to Greenland Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest US oil company, said at the time that he viewed the country as “not suitable for investment.” But Trump has insisted that his administration has brought some stability to Venezuela. He has argued that Venezuela stole American oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those of American oil companies. Rodríguez, in one of his first actions after taking power, signed a law that opens the country’s oil sector to privatization and reversed a fundamental principle of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has governed the country for more than two years. decades. Rubio said on X that the deal would generate billions in private investment in Venezuela and lead to lower gas prices in the United States. “This agreement is a great victory for both the American and Venezuelan people,” Rubio published. The oil purchased from the new company would go toward filling the U.S. strategic oil reserve and for military use, according to the U.S. official. Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil underground. This represents about 17 percent of the world’s supply, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Unlike other parts of the world, where geologists have to search for untapped oil, Venezuela’s underground reserves are largely mapped and known, experts say. But due to dilapidated infrastructure, the country only produces about one percent of the world’s oil. Story continues below ad Maduro remains imprisoned in the United States. He has declared himself innocent.—García Cano reported from Caracas. © 2026 The Canadian Press