US President Donald Trump announced on Friday (28) a deal that, he said, gives Washington majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves, a volume equal to about 21% of the South American country's total oil, according to G1. In a post on his social network, Truth Social, Trump called the pact "the largest oil deal of all time", BBC Brasil reported.
"Under my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with the highly respected interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, and through a partnership with the private sector, secured majority US control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American taxpayer."
According to Folha de S.Paulo, citing Reuters, Trump said the deal would more than double the United States' oil reserves. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on social media that the pact shows the administration's foreign policy aims to secure stable reserves and low-cost oil in the hemisphere, cutting "gasoline prices here at home". For Venezuela, Rubio promised "nearly US$100 billion in private investment", thousands of well-paid jobs and a boost to rebuilding the country's economy.
What it means for Brazil
For Brazil, which shares a border of more than 2,000 kilometers with Venezuela, the announcement has two readings. The first is diplomatic: the alignment of the interim government in Caracas with Washington redraws the political balance of South America, a region where Brasília has followed the Venezuelan crisis closely. The second is economic. Brazil is South America's largest oil producer, and a recovery of Venezuelan output, now around 1.25 million barrels per day, would add to global supply and could press down international crude prices, with effects for exporters such as state-run Petrobras.
The map of interests helps explain the deal's design. The United States faces domestic pressure over high gasoline prices ahead of the November midterm elections and is looking to refill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country's emergency stockpile, according to InfoMoney. The interim government of Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president who took office after his removal, needs investment and revenue flow for a deteriorated energy industry. The private companies mentioned by Trump, not yet identified, would come in as field operators. Venezuela is a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which estimates the country's proven reserves at about 303 billion barrels, the largest in the world.
Terms still undefined
The announcement is the latest development of the American intervention of January 3, when a US military operation entered Venezuela, captured then-president Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York, where he awaits trial, according to G1. Since then, Washington has exercised de facto power in the country, even though Rodríguez officially holds the interim presidency and has adopted pro-Washington measures, such as freeing political prisoners and shipping oil to the United States. Rubio had already argued that Venezuela would go through three stages after Maduro's exit: economic stabilization, political reorganization and a transition to elections.
Despite Trump's celebration, the terms of the deal remain unclear. As BBC Brasil points out, the president did not explain the legal meaning of "majority control", which companies take part, which oil fields are included or what Venezuela will receive in return. As of publication, the Venezuelan government had not officially confirmed the announcement, and no document detailing the pact had been released. The BBC also reported it could not independently verify the negotiations, which the American press had anticipated the day before, involving more than a dozen Venezuelan oil fields.