Trump prepares to secure 100-year US control of Venezuela's oil fields in deal he calls biggest in world history
Marco Rubio's State Department also cited revocations tied to online posts celebrating violence, including one user who wrote that conservative activist Charlie Kirk "died too late.Venezuela holds the world's largest proven crude reserves — estimated at 303 billion barrels — with the deal spanning 17 strategic oilfields and projected to deliver $209 billion in taxes to the Venezuelan state.
A newly created private company, set to be established under a US-Venezuela agreement, is expected to be awarded rights to 17 enormous, previously untapped oil fields for a century, encompassing 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. Trump has announced the deal on Truth Social, crediting Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth with negotiating the agreement alongside Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez. The US government is set to hold 55% effective control of the new company's output, with American oil purchases earmarked for strategic reserves and the military, at no cost to taxpayers. Analysts caution that lifting Venezuelan production will require decades of infrastructure development and enormous capital investment before consumers see any relief at the pump.
Venezuela's Rodríguez has separately described the prospective deal as a 25-year bilateral project — clashing with the 100-year rights expected to be granted to the private company.
María Elvira Salazar, a Republican congresswoman from Florida, deleted a post attacking the deal before reversing course, declaring 'we want this deal to last 100 years' — but only if Venezuela holds free elections.
Oil trader Phil Flynn has called it a 'generational win' for Americans, though experts say Venezuelan output could jump just 17% by 2028 even with major investment.
