United States Aims to Gain Stake in Venezuela's Oil Fields

The Trump administration is currently in discussions with Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, regarding potential U.S. ownership stakes in over a dozen actively producing oil fields. This unprecedented proposal is being described by American officials as a historic agreement, according to an Axios investigation, corroborated by Bloomberg and reported by EFE this past Friday.

These negotiations, ongoing for weeks, focus on fields with approximately 90 billion barrels of proven reserves—representing nearly a third of Venezuela’s total. The deal might include a leasing arrangement for up to 100 years for several of these fields, as noted by Bloomberg.

“Calling it huge would be an understatement. It’s massive,” stated one of two anonymous U.S. officials who confirmed the talks to Axios.

This arrangement could more than double Washington’s oil reserves, an imperative move given the critical state of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which dropped to 289.7 million barrels as of August 24—the lowest level since November 1982—exacerbated by global supply disruptions due to conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.

Leading the negotiations are Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Delcy Rodríguez, with Stephen Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the White House, playing a key role.

Axios reports that these oil fields were previously under the control of former Venezuelan officials—some facing criminal charges—and interests connected to China, adding a geopolitical dimension to the deal.

In exchange for granting this stake to Washington, the Venezuelan government would benefit from the development of these fields by private companies, primarily American enterprises.

A second official, cited by Axios, emphasized the strategic significance of the operation: “President Trump is on the verge of securing America’s energy future for generations, extending beyond the U.S. to the entire hemisphere.”

The Trump administration is attuned to the political sensitivities surrounding this agreement. “We are making every effort to demonstrate how this will benefit the Venezuelan people, because it will,” another official remarked.

This pact aligns with the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” Trump’s strategy to cement U.S. energy and strategic dominance in the Western Hemisphere, aiming to replace the influence of China, Russia, and Iran.

According to Axios, Trump privately began exploring the possibility of acquiring stakes in Venezuelan oil fields even before sanctioning the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026.

This agreement represents the most ambitious step in a broader opening initiated earlier this year: in March, the Treasury issued licenses for U.S. companies to operate in Venezuela; in April, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Delcy Rodríguez from its sanctions list; and in May, Rubio reported that over 10 million Venezuelan barrels had already arrived in the U.S. since January, with revenues monitored by the Treasury and audited by KPMG.

Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves—exceeding 300 billion barrels—but its production has plummeted from nearly three million barrels per day in the 1990s to about 800,000 in 2023, a consequence of infrastructure deterioration and decades of mismanagement under Hugo Chávez and Maduro.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is preparing to visit Venezuela next week to encourage increased production by American companies, potentially marking the beginning of the agreement’s implementation phase.