Venezuela and the United States Reach Oil Cooperation Agreement Covering 65 Billion Barrels

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 28, Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez issued an official government bulletin stating that Venezuela and the United States have reached an oil cooperation agreement, under which private enterprises will participate in the development of 17 strategic oil fields, involving more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, accounting for approximately one-fifth of Venezuela's total proven reserves.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the same day that the United States, through cooperation with private enterprises, has secured majority control over the aforementioned oil reserves, and that the arrangement requires no funding from U.S. taxpayers. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio participated in the agreement negotiations and described the scale of investment as nearly $100 billion. The Venezuelan government bulletin cited a figure of more than $100 billion in private investment, which is expected to generate over $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela. The bulletin did not specify the investment period or the timeline for the tax revenue projection.

The 17 oil fields covered by the agreement include undeveloped extra-heavy oil resources in the Orinoco Belt, as well as mature light-oil fields in the Maracaibo Lake region. Venezuelan officials stated that the country plans to sign new oil and gas exploration and production agreements with multiple companies next week, including U.S. firms. The U.S. side has not yet disclosed the list of participating companies, the operators for each field, the equity structure, the development period, or the method for implementing majority control.

Venezuela currently produces approximately 1.25 million barrels of crude oil per day. On January 29, the country's National Assembly passed a partial amendment to the Organic Hydrocarbons Law, allowing private enterprises registered in Venezuela to participate in oil and gas exploration, extraction, collection, transportation, and initial storage by signing contracts with state-owned enterprises or their subsidiaries, and to obtain oil field operating rights within the scope authorized by the government. The law stipulates that oil and gas resources remain the property of the state, and that mixed-ownership enterprises may operate for a maximum term of 25 years, extendable by an additional 15 years.

On August 27, the U.S. Department of the Treasury updated multiple general licenses related to Venezuelan oil, petrochemical products, diluents, oil and gas operations, and transactions involving PDVSA. The updated licenses remove the requirement that relevant contracts must be governed by U.S. law, while contract dispute resolution procedures must still be conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, or Singapore.