U.S., Venezuela oil agreement gives U.S. access to vast reserves, critics alarmed

financeAug 30, 2026685,305

President Donald Trump announced what he called "the biggest oil deal in world history," saying the United States has secured majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan proven oil reserves. Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodríguez said the agreement is a 25-year bilateral project to develop 17 strategic oilfields with a production target above 1.5 million barrels per day and estimated revenue of about $209 billion at a $65 benchmark, with roughly $19 per barrel flowing directly to Venezuela. The U.S. government and an unnamed private operator formed a new company that, according to the Associated Press, was given rights to untapped fields for 100 years and would give the U.S. an effective 55 percent share of that company’s output plus rights to buy oil at cost. A U.S. official told the AP American purchases would feed the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the military. Experts warned Venezuela’s dilapidated oil infrastructure will require years and billions of dollars to repair, so a large production boost is unlikely to be immediate. Democrats in Congress have questioned the transparency and legality of how Venezuela’s oil revenue would be handled, including reports that sales topped $1 billion and funds would not go to a Qatar account any longer. The deal follows the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro and installation of Delcy Rodríguez as interim president, a sequence critics say raises legal and political scrutiny about long-term control of Venezuela’s resources.

Ron Filipkowski

@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social

As I expected, Trump will not be replacing oil he took out of the SPR because of his Iran War with any oil from Venezuela. Another con from America’s Huckster.

224544d ago

pdconner52.bsky.social59

People seem to forget Biden sold oil in the SPR in 2022 at $96 a barrel. He replaced it with oil purchased at $76. Kept US prices lower and ended up making money for the Treasury.

DBdant41

We all knew he was lying.

Johnnie4ever33

It’s almost like he asks his staff, “what decision would be in the best interests of all Americans” and then does the exact opposite. Every Fucking Time

The Subsequent Mrs. de Winter30

More red meat thrown to the now restless base. Gas prices will only get higher as we move towards November.

Marty Grant28

Venezuela has not been able to upgrade its oil is old history. That’s why none of the American oil companies made a move to extract. Too expensive to upgrade so it has just been sitting there. None of theTrump Regime do their homework. All they know is grab and go.

davemc5192.bsky.social24

All lies again… What we all still want to know is where is the $17bn in oil that he stole from Venezuela? What happened to it? Where is the money?

Quoting this

Khashoggi's Ghost143

I wonder if Trump knows this and is just lying to make it look like he's solving the oil crisis, or if he's genuinely too stupid to understand all the relevant issue and thinks he's solved the problem? I do not know the answer to this.

Bradley P. Moss65

I have no idea if this post is accurate, can we get some verification?

Andrew M. | Founder & Advisor 🇬🇷 🇺🇸11

If you believe anything Trump says, you're likely a fucking moron.

Maj8

Wild part? He was told this before. That he wouldn't be in office or possibly even ALIVE to get their oil for america because of how long that entire process would take. Big part of why you elect leaders that listen to those that are experts in their fields...so you don't do shit like this.

🦋🇨🇦Sarrah🇨🇦🦋6

He just needs the same 80M assholes to believe him, vote for him, and then he stays for life.

Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦5

I've been saying for days that this is all bullshit. Do not take Trump's statements at face value, folks. Don't.

reginaldedward34

To the three people in America that actually believed Trump's BS "deal" on Venezuela oil I say to you it's time to let Trump go. You had your day in the sun and now the sun has set on his time.

Regina Schrambling 4

Got all the "Trump says" heds he wanted from #complicitmedia, tho.

JFC Add it to the Ongoing List Of Trump Fvcking FAILURES #Venezuela #Iran #Tariffs #Inflation #Gas #Groceries #Utilities #Healthcare #ICE #FoodPoisoning #TrumpSwamp #Ballroom #Housing #HitlerArch #KennedyCenter #Munitions #Vote #VoteBlue

Kinlika2

Yes BUT BUT BUT MAGA distinctly heard trump say the Venezuela oil is going into the US reserves Ergo it is so that's it Whatever trump says is Gospel With or without evidence Makes no difference "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters'

MeidasTouch

@meidastouch.com

The truth behind Trump’s Venezuela oil grift. Grocery prices surging. Rep. Garcia’s shadow hearing on a big Trump crisis. A MAGA “cheap gas” scheme accused of selling stolen fuel. Military leaders warning the Iran war is stretching U.S. forces thin. And much more in today’s bulletin:

73544d ago

T-Fish🇨🇦🍁9

Why can’t we just have a day where trump sleeps for 20 hours and we get lots of pictures of baby ducks and puppies in my feed? Does every day need to be a clusterfuck of epic proportions??😏

Natalie W 🌊🌻💙🏳️‍🌈5

It is heavy crude not high quality oil. Such a deal.

NotThatKaren2

If it weren’t for bad deals; Trump would have no deals at all.

🇨🇦 🦋 🇺🇸2

What's hilarious to me is that Venezuela knows full well that the US can't magically get their oil production to increase 500% until well after Trump out-of-office and/or dead... at which time they'll just tear up the agreement. 😂😆

Dennis Fumei1

The crime family needs to go.

verdiaria06.bsky.social1

And this be the good news coming from the Press Office in Dystopistan.

Quoting this

tollerlover05.bsky.social2

Please read every word of this. Especially if you live in the US.

Anne Applebaum

@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

According to the @wsj.com, the deal in Venezuela will "give the US a "stake in a private company that would be granted centurylong rights to some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves" and also tie the U.S. to the "unelected government that is granting those rights." www.wsj.com/business/ene...

65845d ago

Anne Applebaum391

the company is led by Alexander Betancourt, a Venezuelan close to the regime who has "faced criminal investigations of alleged money laundering in Spain and Switzerland, though no formal charges have emerged."

Mr.Eddie897637

So, those free and fair elections he promised just aren't going to happen, right? And the whole thing was just the use of the US military to steal the oil, right?

Rare Aware 🙋‍♀️17

an unelected government is granting rights to a private company in which the US will hold stake Where do Ivanka or Melania fit in?

Jeremy Rodell14

A big difference btw ‘owning’ oil rights and actually delivering. Presumably US taxpayers will make the high risk investment needed to extract it, given US oil companies are so reluctant they’ve risked Trump’s ire by refusing? Meanwhile, the rest of the world is busy moving away from fossil fuels.

Michael Woodman14

Latin American history 101. US interferes/exploits, people rise up, revolution/coup, reset, repeat… etc.

Wendy the Woke12

Betancourt sounds like the perfect Trump business partner, someone steeped in corruption. #sheshed www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Quoting this

David Rothkopf517

To be clear, this “deal” is very likely unlawful under international, Venezuelan and US law…quite apart from questions about whether anyone might corruptly benefit from its proceeds.

Tony Yates30

It’s a coerced settlement neither side has the right to agree to. Whether it endures will depend on politics and power. Will the US continue to want to and be able to coerce Venezuela to accept the terms. I doubt anyone thinks it will last 100 years.

Simon Lester12

I would very much like to hear some Democrats (and any Republicans brave enough of course!) criticizing this arrangement.

Robert Fields5

Did they indicate what Trump‘s cut was going to be? Did they indicate what Marco’s cut was supposed to be? He’s running the country, so his cut should be bigger than Trump’s, and how much is Natalie getting?

BWJones5

This moral corruption is just like the broken thinking that lets police forces profit from seizures and confiscations of money and goods as part of stops. This rot is deep within the Republican psyche.

Kyle Orland4

The "no war for oil" folks fro mthe Iraq war days had no idea how direct it could get...

The New York Times

@nytimes.com

President Trump on Sunday posted that he would use the oil from his deal in Venezuela to refill the U.S.’s stockpile. But new oil projects can take years to get off the ground, and any decision to buy oil for the stockpile would require Congressional approval. Follow live updates.

34744d ago

Mrs. Betty Bowers105

Who said anything about *buying* the oil from Venezuela? Trump plans to steal it.

Rein25

How about this live update: it makes no sense and is probably illegal.

James Who Lives in Queens14

Why can’t you say the obvious? tRump lied, and the oil he claims is ours is being looted from a country without a government, oil that will not likely benefit Americans ever.

tdmel.bsky.social13

He lies like he breathes.

Another Day at the Barricades10

Now I know the answer, really, but is he buying this oil or stealing it?

Uneek9

Wait!!! Why is Trump using oil from Venezuela if he said numerous of times that he won the war with Iran? When you lie 🤥 you must continue to tell more lies.

Quoting this

Dean Barker3

So the oil he stole --or extorted or whatever you call his act of aggressive imperialism-- can't be used in the oil crisis we're in now (an oil crisis he created from a war he doesn't know how to win or end)? Please clap.

SDDPHOTO2

He lied because he lies he always lies he has no clue what the hell he's doing we have a demented madman at the helm Shipwreck ahead

Adam_c9692

Firstly, Trump and his administration don’t believe in or follow rules or laws Secondly…Republicans in Congress would give him approval since they are all beholden to him and afraid of him Lastly…nobody ever said we were going to buy the oil… Trump is a criminal, he’ll just steal it

Republicans Against Trumpism

@rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social

Florida rep deletes X post blasting Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela, then posts again to praise it nypost.com/2026/08/29/u...

29145d ago

furryninja.bsky.social10

Internet do your thing, someone has a screenshot of the post she deleted.

lonelymule.bsky.social8

You know she was threatened with something.

KB4

Someone never learned that on the internet, deleted doesn’t mean gone.

kbmcgrat1.bsky.social4

MAGAts are mentally unstable. I am sure there were death threats.

Dan3

How did I know she was a republican?

robertcopeland.bsky.social2

The call must have come in: "This is the White House. You wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to your Florida gig, now would you?"

Quoting this

Ben McAdams (The Resurrection Arc)16

Funny we keep forgetting Salazar has a credible challenger this year

MLC15

This post is a great reminder of just how difficult the next 2 months are going to be for GOP reps in even remotely competitive races. Trump & his team will insist on backing him 100%, no exceptions. Hate him or love him, Biden's team in 2022 understood candidates that needed to back away.

Debra2

Ah, such internal struggles. Whether to appeal to the voters, or be endorsed by *the kiss of death*, that Harry says Congressional republicans still support.

emptywheel

@emptywheel.bsky.social

From El Pais US edition, ten days before Trump announced the deal (it also describes that Spanish criminal case against Betancourt was reopened in June). english.elpais.com/internationa...

Betancourt left a week after his arrival on June 27 and returned to Venezuela on July 22, according to another flight plan obtained by EL PAÍS. Supposedly he did so on a private aircraft that departed Florida bound for Maiquetía. According to that document, he was accompanied by his wife, his sister, his two children and several Spanish entrepreneurs, friends, and investors in the various businesses Betancourt has backed. The charter listed in the registry departed the United States at 14.42 and landed in Venezuela at 17.30, according to the flight tracker FlightAware, but there is something mysterious about this trip.

Although the document places the aircraft in Venezuela, two of the passengers deny having been there and say that, in that timeframe, the trip they took with Betancourt was from New York to Miami after attending the World Cup final. In addition, the information for that same flight was sent twice with different data and in the second document — same route, same day, same aircraft, same crew — sent while the plane was in flight, there is no trace of Betancourt or his guests.

In their place only Laura Hietamies, a Finnish financier, and her husband, American Jacob Hirshman, co-founder of digital bank Erebor, which serves tech, crypto, and defense companies, appear. Hirshman has traveled to Caracas several times this year to connect the country to the U.S. financial system. Neither responded to EL PAÍS’s messages.

The swapping of names and documents, the complete substitution of one passenger list for another, is, according to a source familiar with the case, a deliberate attempt to disguise Betancourt’s arrival in Venezuela. EL PAÍS sent multiple messages to the businessman, but there was no response. Two of his associates refused to act as intermediaries.

20145d ago

capitolhunters58

Always perk up at a mention of a Tolkien-named company, which usually means a Peter Thiel project. Erebor is funded by Thiel and his buddy Joe Lonsdale; its nominal founders are Thiel cutout Palmer Luckey, Jacob Hirshman (now part of Latin American election fuckery) + 3 others. 1/ archive.is/lPnzo

corypanshin.bsky.social1

Erebor? The lair of Smaug the dragon? They really can’t help themselve, can they?

Joaquin Castro

@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social

This administration’s actions in Venezuela have never been about democracy or drugs. It’s always been about oil, power, graft and enriching Trump’s cronies. Why would they risk free elections in Venezuela when interim President Delcy Rodríguez is handing over all the oil and perks they want?

9144d ago

Larry Marson2

Have you called for @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social to step down as house minority leader and resign from Congress? If not why?

Lee West

@whodat35.bsky.social

Bulletin: David Lorch has some explaining to do with his highly illegal Venezuela oil equity stake deal which he didn’t have the authority to make. Full stop. www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...

5844d ago

Quoting this

Rebel Gadfly5

It's the plan for everything. There's to be no US govt, no US as a nation at all. Everything will be divvied up among oligarch billionaires w/ the idea that the rest of us will be entirely dependent on their monopolies & therefore be mere 24/7 surveilled, compliant sources of labor for their profit.

Chris⚖️Justice

@chrisjustice01.bsky.social

💥 The people of Venezuela have taken to the streets to protest the theft of their oil: “We are protesting against the theft of our oil and interference in our sovereignty by the United States.” 8/30/26

4744d ago

Wendy the Woke

@nomorex61.bsky.social

-Modi is hedging against the USA, one deal at a time -Trump helps Carney get Canadians on board -Venezuela says the USA is practicing Colonialism -Bond market chaos is coming for all of us (and it is) -US deports family members of those who helped in Afghanistan. A few headlines from NYT #Sheshed

2645d ago

Michael Pettis

@michaelpettis.bsky.social

1/4 It was never hard to predict that most Venezuelans would oppose this deal. Most Americans should too. Putting Chevron in control of a substantial portion of the development, production and commercialization of Venezuela's oil reserves may be great for... www.ft.com/content/b3c9...

3345d ago

Andrew M. | Founder & Advisor 🇬🇷 🇺🇸

@andrewmfounder.bsky.social

When President Biden left office there were 394M barrels of oil in the SPR. Right now, there are 289M barrels of oil in the SPR. And the oil from Venezuela wasn't a "gift," you stole it.

3244d ago

Quoting this

Caræsten 🇵🇸143

fun fact: the strategic petroleum reserve doesn't take oil with an API gravity below 22.3 degrees. most of Venezuela's oil is very dense and has an API gravity between 5 and 15 degrees. sources: www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R463... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orinoco...

Anna Phylaxis67

those of you old enough to remember the second Iraq war will remember how roundly folks on the left were mocked over the very idea that the United States would ever do something as crude and base as "go to war for Oil"

Vericocum3

"Δωρο" λεμε τωρα τα κλοπιμαια? Και αυτο το βλεπουν οι αλλες χωρες και δεν ανησυχουν? Θα παιρνει ο,τι γουσταρει και δεν θα κουνιεται φυλλο. Οπως καταλαβαινετε η "τρελα" του Τραμπ βολευει τοσο πολυ τις ΗΠΑ που θα τον κρατησουν

Caræsten 🇵🇸

@cara.city

you could mix the oil from Venezuela with American crude to get oil the SPR can take, but at that point you still need about half the oil to come from the US

4644d ago

Barron W. Tramp

@barronwtramp.bsky.social

So, we're energy independent but we also need oil but we have plenty but we're taking some from Venezuela but we don't need it which is good because it won't be ready for a minimum of 5 years but we're energy independent so....... we're fine Everything Is Fine..........................

2344d ago

treeguy72.bsky.social1

Madness! One lie replaces another, and on, and on, and.......

The Village Idiots1

Makes total sense to me.

Nita Cosby

@5-2blue.bsky.social

Buried within Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela is a provision designed to exert a level of control over the South American company for 100 years.The US government would take a direct stake in Venezuela's oil reserves, the single-largest proven oil reserves on earth. www.rawstory.com/trump-venezu...

1944d ago

3 sources

abc.net.auHow will Trump's oil deal with Venezuela work?cnbc.comVenezuela oil sales top $1 billion, funds won’t go to Qatar account anymore, Energy secretary says economist.comAmerica’s murky deal to secure a fifth of Venezuela’s oil

U.S., Venezuela oil agreement gives U.S. access to vast reserves, critics alarmedfinance

U.S., Venezuela oil agreement gives U.S. access to vast reserves, critics alarmed

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