WorldU.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country's untapped oil reserves, at cost.U.S. president touts agreement as 'biggest oil deal in world history'The Associated Press · Posted: Aug 28, 2026 7:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.U.S. President Donald Trump is seen at the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center in Houston on Friday. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country's untapped oil reserves, at cost.Trump in a social media post announced the agreement he said was negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez."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 US in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and yield over $209 billion US in taxes for Caracas.Rodríguez in a posting on Telegram predicted the deal "will have a significant impact on our nation's revival."The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take hold of the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal.Trump administration tells prosecutors to avoid criminal probes of acting Venezuelan presidentU.S. pressure on Venezuela hasn't eased, even as world's attention turns to IranThe official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that Rodríguez granted the company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields.The deal gives the United States 55 per cent effective output of the new private company — including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost. The company would be the second largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco, according to the official.The announcement of the deal comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump's direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela's then-president Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. U.S. gas prices put pressure on TrumpTrump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reaches a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. The U.S. 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 U.S.-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 U.S. stood at about $4.09 US a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price was $3.21 US at the same time last year.Venezuela's collapse, Trump's military buildup and Maduro's capture: How did we get here?Who is Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's recently captured president?A significant drop in U.S. gas prices tied to the agreement should not be expected immediately. Experts have repeatedly warned that a substantial boost in Venezuelan oil production will not happen quickly as repairing and expanding infrastructure takes years and requires billions of dollars.Persuading big American oil companies to return to the region could face headwinds given the political uncertainty and decades of badly damaged infrastructure.Trump wants oil companies in VenezuelaDays 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.WATCH | Trump's call to oil executives:Trump pushes wary U.S. oil execs to move into VenezuelaJanuary 9|Duration 3:09U.S. President Donald Trump is urging top oil executives to move quickly on developing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. But few seem eager to jump in with both feet in the days after U.S. forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.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.Trump has argued that Venezuela stole U.S. oil when former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies. Rodríguez, 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 has ruled the country for more than two decades. Rubio said on X that the agreement would usher in billions 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," Rubio posted.The oil bought from the new company would go toward filling the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and toward military use, according to the U.S. official.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 per cent 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 1 per cent of the world's oil.