An ownership stake in the oil fields of the nation sitting atop the world’s largest proven crude reserves is now within reach for the United States, two US officials told Axios, describing talks with Venezuela’s interim government that could reshape American energy supply.
More than a dozen productive fields anchor the discussions, holding a combined 90 billion barrels of proven reserves. Set against Venezuela’s roughly 300 billion barrels, that is only a slice, yet it would be sufficient to more than double the oil reserves held by the US should the deal close.
Ownership of the fields in question once rested with former Venezuelan insiders, several of whom have since been indicted, alongside interests previously tied to China. What Venezuela’s government stands to gain, in return for handing the US a stake, is the development of those fields by private companies, American firms among them, and a larger flow of oil revenue back home.
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The scale drew a blunt assessment from one official, who said that “calling this deal huge would be an understatement” and that “it is massive.”
Leading the negotiations are US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s acting president. During a visit to Caracas last month, senior State and Defense department officials sat down with their counterparts to iron out details. A major role is also being played by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Even before he ordered the January 3 capture of Nicolas Maduro, who faces narco-terrorism charges in New York, Trump was privately exploring how to secure a stake in Venezuelan oil. Years of what officials call socialist mismanagement under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez had left the country’s oil sector in decline.
Fueling the urgency are the wars in Iran and Ukraine, which have rattled global supplies and driven up prices, while the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve sits at a 40-year low.
A firm date for any agreement remains uncertain. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has floated a trip to Venezuela next week as his department looks at ways to raise production by US firms.
