In what Donald Trump calls a “legacy-defining” deal with Venezuela, the US is in talks to take an ownership stake in its oil fields.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is negotiating with the interim government, namely Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, according to two US officials speaking with Axios.
The historic deal would more than double U.S. oil reserves by tapping into a country with the world’s largest proven reserves.
“Calling this deal huge would be an understatement,” one of the officials said. “It is massive.”
Between the wars and the low levels in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, it is a critical time for such a deal.
The files concern about 90 billion barrels of the 300 billion barrels of proven reserves.
In return for granting the U.S. an ownership stake, Venezuela’s government would benefit as private companies, including American firms, develop the fields and return more oil revenue to the country, Axios reports.
“President Trump is close to securing America’s energy future for generations to come, not just in the U.S. but in the hemisphere,” a second official said.