Trump announces record-breaking oil deal with Venezuela to double US reserves and slash gas prices

Donald Trump claimed he's landed the 'biggest oil deal in world history,' giving the US control of over 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela. 

The President has sought American control over the South American nation's reserves since it deposed dictator Nicolas Maduro earlier this year in Operation Absolute Resolve. 

Trump credited Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth on brokering the deal with Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez and private businesses, which Axios reported includes American oil firms. 

'This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity,' Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump also promised the deal came at 'no cost to the American taxpayer.'

'This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States!'

The deal is the second Trump has made with the new Venezuelan government since early January's late night deposition of Maduro. 

The president has openly stated that the military operation to oust Maduro was, in part, an attempt to extract some of oil-rich Venezuela's stock. 

Donald Trump claimed he's landed the 'biggest oil deal in world history,' giving the US control of over 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela

The deal is the second Trump has made with the new Venezuelan government since early January's late night deposition of Maduro

Rodriguez previously served as Maduro's Minister of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons. 

In a post to X, Secretary of State Rubio called the deal 'a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people.'

'It demonstrates how President Trump's bold foreign policy is driving America First wins: securing stable reserves and low-cost oil in our Hemisphere and lowering gas prices here at home,' he said.

'For the Venezuelan people, this deal will bring nearly $100 billion in private investment, support thousands of high-paying jobs, and drive the reconstruction of Venezuela's economy.'

Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reaches a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. 

The US 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.

In the days following Maduro´s ouster in January, Trump floated the idea of U.S. oil companies returning to Venezuela to tap its oil reserves. 

Trump has argued that Venezuela stole US oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies. 

The president has openly stated that the military operation to depose leader Nicolas Maduro  was, in part, an attempt to extract some of oil-rich Venezuela's stock

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 percent 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 percent of the world´s oil.

The US-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20 percent of the world petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.

The average price of gas in the US stood at about $4.09 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price was $3.21 at the same time last year.

Trump in his social media post Friday evening alluded to the Venezuela deal being part of a private partnership. 

The White House did not immediately reply to The Daily Mail's request for comment about the private sector partners involved in the deal, and details on how the arrangement would work were not provided.

Trump credited Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth on brokering the deal with Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez (pictured)

Trump in his social media post Friday evening alluded to the Venezuela deal being part of a private partnership

Persuading big American oil companies to return the region could face headwinds given 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 US oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez´s moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.

Rodriguez, 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 had ruled the country for more than two decades.

The Venezuelan government's press office did not immediately respond to The Daily Mail's request for comment.