Donald Trump has declared that the US has struck the “biggest oil deal in world history” with Venezuela as he vowed the agreement would slash fuel prices for Americans.
The US President said the agreement would give America access to more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan crude reserves.
Mr Trump announced the deal on his Truth Social platform on Friday evening, claiming it would “more than double” American oil reserves.
He credited Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth with negotiating the agreement with Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
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Mr Trump said: “This historic transaction more than doubles American oil reserves, greatly increases our oil supply, and will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward tremendous success and great prosperity.”
The President said the agreement would come at no cost to American taxpayers and claimed it would further strengthen relations between Washington and Caracas.
The transaction has been structured alongside private companies, reportedly including US oil firms.
It comes as Mr Trump faces mounting pressure over fuel prices amid disruption to global oil supplies caused by the continuing conflict with Iran.
Petrol prices averaged around $4.09 (£3.02) per gallon in the US on Friday, according to AAA, compared with around $3.21 (£2.37) at the same point last year.
The six-month conflict in Iran has severely disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which previously handled roughly a fifth of global petroleum supplies.
US strategic petroleum reserves have also fallen below 300 million barrels after declining by more than 100 million barrels since the beginning of the year.
The Venezuelan agreement is the second major accord between Washington and Caracas since Nicolas Maduro was removed from power in January during Operation Absolute Resolve in January.
Mr Trump has previously acknowledged that access to Venezuela’s vast oil wealth formed part of his thinking behind the US intervention.
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Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez welcomed the latest agreement.
She said: “This initiative is the result of the strengthening of relations between Venezuela and the United States, and it will facilitate a significant flow of investment aimed at the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure for the development of our hydrocarbons industry.”
Mr Rubio also hailed the agreement as “a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people”.
The Secretary of State said the deal would bring close to $100billion (£73.88billion) of private investment into Venezuela, create thousands of well-paid jobs and help rebuild the country’s economy.
Venezuela possesses an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil, accounting for around 17 per cent of global reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Despite possessing the world’s largest proven crude reserves, years of underinvestment and deteriorating infrastructure mean Venezuela produces only a fraction of its potential output.
Mr Trump has long argued that Venezuela effectively seized American oil assets when the late Hugo Chavez nationalised foreign-owned operations, including those belonging to US companies.
Following Maduro’s removal in January, the President floated plans for American energy companies to return to Venezuela and develop its vast reserves.
Mr Rubio said the latest agreement demonstrated that the White House’s foreign policy was “driving America First wins: securing stable reserves and low-cost oil in our Hemisphere”.
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