Trump says U.S. to take control of 65B barrels of Venezuela oil reserves in new deal

President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country’s untapped oil reserves, at cost. Trump in a social media post announcing the agreement said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez.“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote.Rodríguez’s government in a statement said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw US$100 billion in investment into Venezuela’s oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas. 1:48 Should Canada leverage energy exports to U.S. in trade war? Rodríguez in a posting on Telegram predicted the deal “will have a significant impact on our nation’s revival.” Story continues below advertisement The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company ...