VENEZUELA LOCKS IN 25-YEAR OIL DEAL WITH US AS WASHINGTON CELEBRATES ‘HUGE WIN’

Sun 30 August 2026:

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez said a newly reached oil deal with the United States will las t 25 years and is intended to lift the country’s daily crude output above 1.5 million barrels.

In remarks on state television channel VTV on Saturday, she called the pact “historic.”Rodríguez repeated that the agreement is set to run for 25 years and targets production of more than 1.5 million barrels a day.

“Our goal is to go even further with the signing of other major agreements involving giant companies such as Chevron, Repsol, Eni, Shell and BP. We want to become an energy power,” she said.

“In concrete terms, this means that approximately $19 for every barrel produced and sold will go directly to our country.”

Addressing the agreement’s expected contribution to the Venezuelan economy, Rodriguez said that, based on an oil price of $65 per barrel, the country could generate $209.335 billion in revenue from the deal.

Rodriguez said the project covers the development of eight crude oil fields in the Orinoco Oil Belt, which spans more than 55,000 square kilometers (21,235 square miles) in eastern and east-central Venezuela.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

She said the agreement envisages a royalty rate of at least 16% and an income tax rate of 34%, adding that these terms would accelerate Venezuela’s economic recovery.

Rodriguez thanked US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their efforts toward reaching the agreement, saying that “each side contributed what it does best.”

“It must be absolutely clear that Venezuela retains ownership and sovereignty over its resources,” she said.

Rodriguez added that the US would provide capital, technology, and operational capacity to accelerate the recovery of Venezuela’s strategic oil sector, which has been severely affected by sanctions.

Stressing that the government would be transparent with Venezuelans, Rodriguez said they “have the right to know how much is being invested, how much is being produced, how much revenue the state is receiving and what the conditions are for the operators.”

Trump said Friday that Washington finalized an agreement with Venezuela to secure majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.

“The United States of America has just entered into an agreement with the country of Venezuela on the biggest oil deal in world history,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

He credited Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for working alongside Rodriguez to finalize the transaction. Rodriguez assumed the interim presidency in January after a US military operation captured President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump asserted that the deal was achieved through a partnership with private industry and would involve no cost to American taxpayers. He claimed the transaction more than doubles existing US oil reserves and will “substantially lower gas prices” for Americans in the long term, while promoting prosperity in the South American nation.

The deal will strengthen the rapidly evolving relationship between Washington and Caracas, Trump said.

Rubio said the deal is a “huge win” for both nations, and that it will bring nearly $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

__________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22