Trump says US is taking partial control of Venezuela's oil reserves

US President Donald Trump says the US has entered an agreement with Venezuela to take control of a fifth of the South American country's vast oil reserves.

Mr Trump announced the deal in a social media post on Friday, local time, providing few details about it other than that the US had secured majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves through a partnership with private business.

"The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!" Mr Trump wrote.

"At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer."

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

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

Mr Rubio said on X that the agreement would usher in $US100 billion ($139b) 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," Mr Rubio posted.

The announcement comes nearly nine months after the US military at Mr Trump's direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Mr Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reaches a six-month mark 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.

The US-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 US stood at about $4.09 a gallon ($1.51/litre) on Friday, according to the American Automobile Association. The average price was $3.21 ($1.18/litre) at the same time last year.

Persuading big American oil companies to return to the region could face headwinds given the unrest and decades of badly damaged infrastructure.

Days after the ouster of Mr Maduro, Mr 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 US oil company, said at that moment he saw the country as "un-investable".

But Mr 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 moved decades ago to nationalise hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.

Ms Rodriguez, in one of her early moves after taking power, signed a law that opens the nation's oil sector to privatisation and reversed a bedrock tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that had ruled the country for more than two decades.

Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground — about 17 per cent of the world's supply, according to the US 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 1 per cent of the world's oil.