Venezuela’s interim President, Delcy Rodriguez, has announced what she described as “a historic agreement” with the US government, saying it will have “a significant impact on our nation’s revival”.Rodriguez said the agreement follows the strengthening of relations between Venezuela and the United States.Her announcement came after US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States had reached an agreement with Venezuela involving the development of oil reserves estimated at 65 billion barrels.In a social media post, Trump said the agreement was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim President, Rodriguez.Trump said: “The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!”In a statement on Friday, Rodriguez said the initiative would facilitate a significant flow of investment aimed at the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure and the development of Venezuela’s hydrocarbons industry.“I extend my deepest gratitude to the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, as well as to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US government for their support in developing this agreement, which represents a historic milestone in bilateral relations between Venezuela and the US,” she added.Rodriguez said the agreement would allow for a significant increase in oil production with the participation of private operators.“It calls for the development of 17 strategic fields, with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels of oil, an investment of more than US$100 billion, and more than US$209 billion in taxes for the State.“These investments will contribute not only to the recovery and modernisation of our industry, but also to our country’s economic growth, the energy security of our hemisphere, and greater balance in international markets,” she said.Rodriguez said the goal was to consolidate Venezuela’s position as an energy-producing power, using its vast reserves to support national development, create jobs, increase workers’ incomes and improve the well-being of its people.“Venezuela is thus ushering in a new era of recovery, growth, production, security, and prosperity for our people,” she said.Responding to questions from the Sunday Express yesterday, Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said Trinidad and Tobago had taken note of the recent announcement of the agreement between the US and Venezuela.He said under the strategic leadership of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago looked forward to potential opportunities arising from the development.Moonilal pointed to the planned restart of the Guaracara refinery, which he said was a priority for the administration.“For the full throughput of the refinery to be realised, we would need to import crude as was done under the operations of Petrotrin.“Our proximity and the synergies between the refinery crude requirements and the crude from Venezuela offer strategic advantages,” he added.He said the Government was also exploring additional downstream industries, including crude storage and blending.“The influx of additional regional crudes, including potential volumes from Venezuela, may augur well in this pursuit,” Moonilal said.