President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country’s untapped oil reserves, at cost.
Trump in a social media post announcing the agreement said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez.
“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote.
Rodríguez’s government in a statement said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw US$100 billion in investment into Venezuela’s oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.
Rodríguez in a posting on Telegram predicted the deal “will have a significant impact on our nation’s revival.”
The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take hold of the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that Rodríguez granted the company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields.
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The deal gives the United States 55 per cent effective output of the new private company — including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost. The company would be the second largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco, according to the official.
Trump is under pressure to show he’s lowering oil costs
The announcement comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump’s direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela’s then-President Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.
Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran on Friday reached a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20 per cent of the world petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.
The average price of gas in the U.S. stood at about US$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 U.S. gas prices tied to the agreement should not be expected immediately. Experts have repeatedly warned that a substantial boost in Venezuelan oil production will not happen quickly as repairing and expanding infrastructure takes years and requires billions of dollars.
Persuading big American oil companies to return the region could face headwinds given the political uncertainty and decades of badly damaged infrastructure.
Days after the ouster of Maduro, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and called on them to rush back into Venezuela. Executives expressed interest in the opportunity but there was also a measure of caution given their past experience in the country.
Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, said at that moment he saw the country as “un-investable.”
But Trump has insisted that his administration has brought a measure of stability to Venezuela.
He has argued that Venezuela stole U.S. oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.
Rodríguez, in one of her early moves after taking power, signed a law that opens the nation’s oil sector to privatization and reversed a bedrock tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.
Rubio said on X that the agreement would usher in billions in private investment into Venezuela and lead to lower gas prices in the United States.
“This deal is a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people,” Rubio posted.
The oil bought from the new company would go toward filling the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and toward 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 in the ground. That’s about 17 per cent 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, the reserves under Venezuela’s soil are largely mapped and known, experts say. But because of dilapidated infrastructure, the country only produces about one per cent of the world’s oil.
Maduro remains jailed in the U.S. He has pleaded not guilty.
—Garcia Cano reported from Caracas.
Hate Trump all you want (i do also) but he is building an empire. He’s playing chess while we are playing checkers. To quote the good book.. a pale horse is coming Canada.
More bullsh_t from the 🍊 mouthpiece! It would be laughable if it wasn’t so stupid.
Every day another reason is given for Alberta to leave this tire fire.
He is totally FKed in the head
winston smith 1984
August 31, 2026 at 6:46 am
if this goes thru us wont need our main export. its easy to hate trump but damn that guy is smart he is killin it. the us debt issue is a major problem but 123 percent of gdp is only 10 percent more then canaduh and 100 percent less then japan. my biggest fear is hyper inflation. feel sorry for the kids we are building a big problem for them to pay off.
Really? Eat a Trump d*ck you c*mmie p*g! ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS TRUMP IS A CHILD MOLESTER AND A COMMIE!!
if this goes thru us wont need our main export. its easy to hate trump but damn that guy is smart he is killin it. the us debt issue is a major problem but 123 percent of gdp is only 10 percent more then canaduh and 100 percent less then japan. my biggest fear is hyper inflation. feel sorry for the kids we are building a big problem for them to pay off.
Another day, another lie!
It is impossible to use Venezuelan heavy oil to refill the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve!!
The SPR is not stored in traditional metal tanks; it is held in massive underground salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana. If sludge-like, extra-heavy Venezuelan oil is pumped into these caverns, it risks settling heavily at the bottom. Over time, it could become permanently stuck and nearly impossible to pump back out during an emergency drawdown.
This country has already nationalized foreign assets twice in my lifetime, I would not try to convince my shareholders to invest any more money there.
This deal is like the deal with Iran. It will never come to full fruition.
$4 a gallon? must be nice! Not in Canada!!
@malcolm amber If you don’t call Trump “attack” on Venezuela, then maybe someone from another country should go in and “arrest” Donald Trump for the start of destruction of America. If you don’t think that US strikes on fishing boats on international water (Carribean or eastern waters), so called alleged drug traffickers (without any proof since no arrests were made), then perhaps that is not murder either and that it is ok to bomb away innocent lives just because they are there fishing, looking for food to feed their family. Hopefully, you and your family are not travelling to the Carribean on vacation and accidently have the US military in their crosshairs. That would be bad luck. As for the so called Agreement, no private US oil company will be stupid to go there. It is the dumbest, worst, costliest deal in world history.
Trump just shat in carnholes mouth!
@Gord Hasay I guess you should talk to Biden who increased the reward to $25 million in January 2025 for the capture of the drug kingpin Maduro. Trump did not “Attack” Venezuela. The US went in to arrest a known druglord who destroyed the country. I guess you didn’t notice the Venezuelan people celebrating his arrest. With the US as a customer for its oil maybe the country can flourish again.
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Trump is such an idiot!. A tyrant!!
“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!”
After attacking Venezuela and kidnapping their president this isn’t a ‘deal’ as much as an act of extortion. Pay up with oil or get attacked again. If Canada added an export tariff America would probably do the same to us.
It’s just Trump just having another one of his temper tantrums
There they are. All the Carney bashers are out in full force. Give it a rest, 44% liberal support get used to it, or get the cons a new leader, then maybe you will get your way.
Canadians, get ready, we’re preparing for our Russian supported angriff…
This deal is a F U to Carney the US doesn’t need Canadian oil it has other markets to draw from unlike Canada with Carney at the helm 18 months in only one trade deal to take spy cars from China.
Elbows Up !!!
Crusader. Using oil to retaliate isn’t blackmail. It’s retaliation against U.S. violation of the CUSMA (USMCA). Trump violated the Agreement by imposing tariffs on Canada in excess of the bound tariff rates in the Agreement. We have the right to retaliate to restore the balance of concessions in the Agreement. Besides that, it will be years before Venezuelan oil will be a factor, if ever.
Haven’t we had enough of the economic moron .
This sort of reminds me of
A little moustached goosestepper
playing around with oil fields in Romania and the Caucaucus in the 1940s.
The moron knows no bounds !
Just tired of ya dj, bored actually. It’s rhetoric. Move over……
@crusader: if you had even a modicum of intelligence, you’d know the Venezuelan oil is at the very least, many years removed from production. Not to mention that it’s very difficult to refine and will require &billions in infrastructure upgrades…..$billions that oil companies have said they are reluctant to invest given that its cheaper to import from other countries. But hey, keep spewing your misinformed nonsense, maybe you will even convince yourself at some point, lol!
All that heavy crude oil for the USA. So much for Canadian leaders suggesting blackmail using oil exports to force capitulation in their trade war…
Key words “if realized”. And just who are they going to pay to develop those 65 billion barrels of oil!? Another mythical Trump deal. LMAO!
THEFT BY THE USA
check the timing of this announcement, just before canada’s counter tariffs are about to take effect amid
speculation that oil may be another tool in the toolbox with which to retaliate.
Good. The Venezuelan communists would otherwise use it to fund BRICS wars…
Gord, 25 years as a private in gay military vids doesn’t count as military
I would be wary of “The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take hold of the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal.” Someone we know will load his pocket once more! Poor Venezuelans!
To ‘Anonymous’
Too chicken to use your real name?
As for ‘ Ok Comrade Hasay’
Having spent over 25 years in the Canadian Army, I doubt I am “comrade” anybody.
@sallysue SIGH !!!! The deal with Venezuela is buying their oil at cost, not taking it. The Venezuelan government will be making billions of dollars a day on the deal. It is up to their government to give it to the people in the form of tax reductions, cheap gas, good social programs, good healthcare etc. Venezuela will become rich from the oil revenues. Please try and keep up with the game.
But is it cost effective? I think not just another
Trump Distraction.
A lot of Elbows Up supporters sounding more than worried, and they should. This is potentially a very bad turn of events for Canada’s bargaining position, and for our economy long term.
Fingers crossed that Mr Burns can find a way through the mess he is in.
There’s also something wrong with another country’s Leader to just stand by and allow the Creep to take their Oil without anything given back.
What an Insane Creep to take another countries Oil after telling their people the US will take care of them, after they seized their Cruel leader.
Why is he still on this planet?
Too late cunada, ya snooze,ya lose!
Trump saying he has made a deal to obtain the barrels of oil? Sure like pigs can fly?! We have learnt all of these months that you cannot believe a single thing that comes from the White House.
With the socialists having run their oil industry into the ground, I will be surprised if they can get even 1B barrels out.
Canadians on these comments are convinced Trump will lose in November but what if it’s not a landslide and he wins again or at best it’s split what is Canada going to do then. Also remember Trump always has his executive powers for another 2 years. Canada can’t survive another 2 years without a deal. It’s time to have a backup plan to deal with Trump.
Greg
August 29, 2026 at 12:43 pm
With America, it’s always about oil…
What would you want it to be about carbon capture? pixy dust and roses?
@Gord Hasay Ok Comrade Hasay !!
On January 3, 2026, the United States military launched sudden airstrikes in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. Legal experts and foreign governments called the attack an illegal use of force and a violation of the UN Charter.
They attack Venezuela and now want to take their oil, piracy on an international level.
Fred
August 29, 2026 at 12:37 pm
Hey Freddy who built the oil infrastructure in Venezuela? I’ll give you one guess or maybe I’ll just tell you it was the US of A.
Heck yea!!! Lets keep those elbows up high gang.
Orange guy panicking before the midterms, as he knows he’s at a record low in the polls. So he tells Murica not to worry, Venezuelan oil gonna save them, lol! Except the Venezuelan infrastructure is old & decrepit and big oil has already said they won’t be investing the billions needed to bring it up to snuff. But, nice try pumpkin head, lol!
Everyone is saying it’s a lie but what if it isn’t what will it mean for Canada if Trump doesn’t need our oil. Canada is making big noise about shopping elsewhere maybe Trump is shopping elsewhere also which will hurt Canada even more. Our provinces won’t even support Canada enough to drop interprovincial tariffs or allow pipelines to get our oil across Canada. People are so blinded by TDS they won’t see what’s happening in Canada and Carney and this Liberal government are doing nothing but making elbows up speeches.
Trumps plan is to make the north and south American continents one single trading block with 30 billion barrels of oil under Venezuela, water from the great lakes and the Amazon basin, lithium and other rare earth metals in abundance in south american countries, control of the Panama Canal, fresh grown vegetables etc from Mexico etc etcetc. If you haven’t got the picture yet then you must be a Carney supporter. The only failure is Canada that is a land mass part of north america but with a government that is rejecting the unified trading block of north and south america and going to China and Europe to trade. That is a disastrous decision that will backfire on Carney and Canada.
Ouch. Bad news for Canada. Elbows up right? Ha Ha.
On s’en fout? Du pétrole bon marché, c’est du pétrole bon marché, et c’est bon pour l’économie !
Who cares? Cheap oil is cheap oil, and that’s good for the economy!
The kind of “deal” that is only made when you have your foot on the throat of the other side’s trade representative. I’m glad that Canada didn’t allow such a “deal”.
It’s not a deal when a bully comes in , uses the military to capture the current leader and then replace that leader with another one you can extort the countries riches from . It’s called a war crime.
Your move Carney / Danielle.
With America, it’s always about oil…
As usual, Trump and his administration are big fat liars. The level of idiocy just piles up in the White House. No private operator would be stupid to go into Venezuela and spend billions of investment to develop the dirtest crude oil, let alone the time or 10 years plus to fix their mess. Venezuela is a strategic hub for criminal organization that the foreign (aka American) oil workers will never come out alive. VP Rodriguez is a puppet…doing and saying whatever to appease Trump and it will never end well. Trump and their administration know that this spells death sentence. Look at the 6 month war with the Iranians. Trump has no way out out of his stupid war plan and the Iranian government are not going to let him get away that easy. Sure, Vance who is the biggest idiot is complaining about Canadian’s weak military (which is true) but all this is just a smear campaign, a distraction from the real fact: Trump’s wars just keep on piling up and Canadians are now at trade war with the Americans. That is so F-UP.
Venezuela gonna see some very upset and potentially violent civilians making statements soon. This should read trump extorts 65 billion barrels of oil using intimidation tactics.
ANOTHER BIG LIE! When will he stop?? Kill it before it spreads please!!
This won’t work out in the long run.
Someone somewhere somehow, end that man