Washington, Aug 29 (V7N)- US President Donald Trump has claimed that the United States has reached a deal to take control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves, which he described as the “largest oil deal in the history of the world.”
In a social media post on Friday (August 28), Trump said the agreement was reached through negotiations involving US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
Trump claimed the deal covers Venezuela's estimated 65 billion barrels of oil reserves.
The announcement came nearly nine months after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was ousted and taken to the United States. US authorities have accused Maduro of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
Pressure on US fuel prices
Trump's announcement comes as the United States continues to face pressure on fuel prices amid the prolonged Iran war.
The US government has already released a significant amount of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to ease pressure on the domestic energy market.
Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven crude oil reserves. The country is estimated to have around 303 billion barrels of crude reserves, equivalent to roughly 17 percent of global reserves.
Despite its enormous reserves, Venezuela currently accounts for only about 1 percent of global oil production, largely because of ageing infrastructure, limited investment and problems within its oil industry.
Trump has previously expressed interest in bringing US energy companies back into Venezuela's oil sector following Maduro's removal.
The latest announcement appears to be part of that broader effort to expand US involvement in Venezuela's petroleum industry. However, the details of the reported agreement, including how control over the reserves would be structured, were not immediately made public.
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