US President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration has entered a sweeping agreement to buy oil from Venezuela at cost, as the White House scrambles to lower gas prices six months into the war with Iran.
The announcement came nearly nine months after the US military captured Venezuela’s then-president Nicolás Maduro and spirited him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. Maduro has pled not guilty, and remains in US custody.
The agreement, which would give the US access to the South American’s countries vast untapped oil reserves, was negotiated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, Trump said on social media.
“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote.
Rodríguez’s government in a statement said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela’s oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.
