Highlights
- The US and Venezuela have entered a 100-year agreement covering 17 oil fields with 65 billion barrels of proven potential.
- A new private company will give the US 55% of effective output, plus rights to buy oil at cost.
- The deal could draw $100 billion in investment and generate over $209 billion in Venezuelan tax revenue.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth negotiated the terms with Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.
- Analysts caution the payoff is years away given the state of Venezuela's oil infrastructure.
President Trump announced what he called the “biggest oil deal in world history” on August 28, 2026: a 100-year agreement giving the United States access to 17 Venezuelan oil fields holding an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven potential. Coin Bureau detailed the structure on X, noting the arrangement channels oil toward the US strategic petroleum reserve and military use. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth negotiated the terms directly with Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.
Under the deal, the US government partners with an unnamed private operator to form a new company holding the 100-year field rights. The US receives 55% of the venture's effective output through a combination of an ownership stake and rights to purchase oil at cost. The administration projects the arrangement could draw $100 billion in fresh investment into Venezuela's oil sector and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Caracas over the life of the agreement. No formal text of the agreement has been publicly released, and neither government has detailed a production timeline.
Why the Payoff Is Years Away
Reaction has split along predictable lines: energy economist Amy Myers Jaffe cautioned the deal “is not going to do anything to change the price of gasoline at the retail station for Labor Day,” while Harvard's Ricardo Hausmann called it a “shameful deal.” That skepticism reflects the physical reality facing Venezuela's oil sector — decades of underinvestment have left its fields and export infrastructure in poor condition, meaning any meaningful production increase requires years of repair work and billions in capital before the 65 billion barrels translate into actual barrels on tankers. For now, the deal functions more as a geopolitical marker — locking in US access to Western Hemisphere reserves for a century — than as an immediate supply shock to global oil markets.
Related: US-Venezuela Oil Deal Could Create a Urals-Style Blend, Iran Blueprint
What to Watch Next
The next milestones to watch are whether the two governments release the actual contract text, how quickly the new joint venture begins fielding drilling contracts, and whether Congress or Venezuelan opposition figures raise objections to a deal negotiated without public disclosure of its full terms. Any near-term move in oil markets is more likely to come from broader Gulf supply dynamics than from this agreement alone.
FAQ
How many barrels of oil does the US-Venezuela deal cover?
The agreement spans 17 oil fields with an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven potential.
How much of the oil output does the US get?
The US receives 55% of the new venture's effective output, combining an ownership stake with rights to buy oil at cost.
Who negotiated the deal?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth negotiated the terms with Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.
Will this deal lower gas prices soon?
Economists say no — infrastructure repairs needed in Venezuela mean any production boost, and related price effects, are years away rather than immediate.
