Trump announces record-breaking oil deal with Venezuela to double US reserves and slash gas prices

Donald Trump announced he has landed the ‘biggest oil deal in world history’ following a deal with Venezuela.

The president revealed that he has secured control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in a move he says will slash gas prices for ordinary Americans.

Trump credited Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on brokering the deal with Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez.

‘This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity,’ the president said on Truth Social on Friday.

Trump also promised the deal came at ‘no cost to the American taxpayer.’

‘This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States!’ he added.

The deal was made along side private businesses, which Axios reported includes American oil firms. 

It is the second agreement Trump has made with the new Venezuelan government since he captured the country’s former president Nicolas Maduro in January during Operation Absolute Resolve.

The deal is the second Trump has made with the new Venezuelan government since early January’s late night deposition of Maduro

The president has openly stated that the military operation to oust Maduro was, in part, an attempt to extract some of oil-rich Venezuela’s stock.

‘This initiative is the result of the strengthening of relations between Venezuela and the United States, and it will facilitate a significant flow of investment aimed at the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure for the development of our hydrocarbons industry,’ Rodriguez said. 

In a post to X, Secretary of State Rubio called the deal ‘a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people.’

‘It demonstrates how President Trump’s bold foreign policy is driving America First wins: securing stable reserves and low-cost oil in our Hemisphere and lowering gas prices here at home,’ he said.

‘For the Venezuelan people, this deal will bring nearly $100 billion in private investment, support thousands of high-paying jobs, and drive the reconstruction of Venezuela’s economy.’

Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reaches a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. 

The US has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

In the days following Maduro’s ouster in January, Trump floated the idea of US oil companies returning to Venezuela to tap its oil reserves. 

Trump has argued that Venezuela stole US oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies. 

The president has openly stated that the military operation to depose leader Nicolas Maduro  was, in part, an attempt to extract some of oil-rich Venezuela’s stock

Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground. 

The reserves are equivalent to about 17 percent of the world’s supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration. 

Unlike other parts of the world, where geologists have to search for untapped oil, the reserves under Venezuela’s soil are largely mapped and known, experts say. 

But because of dilapidated infrastructure, the country only produces about one percent of the world´s oil.

The US-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20 percent of the world’s petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.

The average price of gas in the US stood at about $4.09 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price was $3.21 at the same time last year.

Trump in his social media post Friday evening alluded to the Venezuela deal being part of a private partnership. 

The White House did not immediately reply to The Daily Mail’s request for comment about the private sector partners involved in the deal, and details on how the arrangement would work were not provided.

Trump credited Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth on brokering the deal with Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez (pictured)

Trump in his social media post Friday evening alluded to the Venezuela deal being part of a private partnership

Persuading big American oil companies to return to the region could face headwinds given and decades of badly damaged infrastructure.

Days after the deposition of Maduro, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and called on them to rush back into Venezuela. 

Executives expressed interest in the opportunity but there was also a measure of caution given their past experience in the country.

Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest US oil company, said at that moment he saw the country as ‘un-investable.’

But Trump has insisted that his administration has brought a measure of stability to Venezuela.

He has argued that Venezuela stole US oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez´s moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.

Rodriguez, in one of her early moves after taking power, signed a law that opens the nation´s oil sector to privatization and reversed a bedrock tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that had ruled the country for more than two decades.

The Venezuelan government’s press office did not immediately respond to The Daily Mail’s request for comment.