President Trump has announced what he calls “the biggest deal in history” — a US-Venezuelan oil arrangement that, according to his Truth Social post, gives Washington “majority control” over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven reserves, “at zero cost” to the American taxpayer and more than doubling the nation’s strategic stockpile.
The numbers
Venezuela holds roughly 303 billion barrels of proven reserves — the largest in the world, close to one-fifth of the global total, ahead of Saudi Arabia (267 bn), Iran (209 bn), Canada (163 bn) and Iraq (145 bn). The US currently holds about 45 billion. A 65-billion-barrel block would indeed more than double that figure, making the US the world’s second-largest corporate holder after Saudi Aramco.
The paradox: despite sitting on the largest reserves on Earth, Venezuela produces roughly 1% of global oil — just over one million barrels a day.
The structure (as reported)
According to an unnamed US official, the deal rests on a new private joint venture between the US government and an unnamed “experienced private operator” based in Venezuela. Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Ródríguez, has reportedly granted a 100-year concession covering about 63 billion barrels of reserves.
Washington would control 55% of the “effective output,” split between an equity stake in the holding company and the right to buy oil “at cost” for delivery to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — currently at record lows after releases tied to the Hormuz crisis — and military use.
The operator’s identity remains undisclosed. Among foreign companies with an active presence in Venezuela — Chevron, Repsol, Eni — any could be a candidate, press reports suggest. None have confirmed involvement.
What we don’t know
The contractual text has not been published. The exact equity split, the pricing formula for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve purchases, and the legal framework under which a sovereign entity “controls” another country’s subsoil assets remain opaque. In a post-Maduro Venezuela, where the June 24 earthquake further disrupted extraction infrastructure, the deal’s mechanics look more like a political declaration than a signed contract.
What is certain is that the announcement has already landed in a US election season where energy policy is a live issue, and in a geopolitical moment where the Strait of Hormuz remains the world’s most consequential pressure point. Whether the deal survives contact with the Venezuelan legal system — or the next regime change — is anyone’s guess.
Source: Corriere della Sera, 29 August 2026.