Oil and politics: What Trump’s “historic” deal means for Venezuela

Venezuela’s oil politics have undergone a dramatic reversal. For 27 years, the governing party promoted national control of the industry as part of a broader resource-nationalist project. That approach ended after U.S. special forces abducted President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on January 3, 2026, and took him to the United States to face guns-and-drugs charges.

Since then, Maduro’s deputy, interim President Delcy Rodriguez, has pursued privatisation of the oil industry in favour of U.S. government interests. The government has reformed the General Hydrocarbons Law, liberalised energy power plants and granted permissions, subject to prior U.S. authorisation, for U.S. and foreign oil companies to operate in Venezuela’s oil fields. Companies from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are excluded.

The most significant step came last week, when Washington and Caracas announced an agreement giving U.S. companies access to 65 billion barrels of crude oil reserves over the next 100 years. President Donald Trump called it the “biggest oil deal in world history.” The article presents the agreement as both a turning point in Venezuela’s resource policy and the culmination of U.S. efforts to control the country’s oil and gas resources.

The deal also forms part of Venezuela’s political transition. The United States has developed a three-phase plan focused on stabilisation, recovery and political reform since removing Maduro from power. The parties must now create a roadmap for implementing the agreement while ensuring that presidential elections take place. Yet the final terms remain uncertain, with U.S. and Venezuelan authorities offering conflicting and sometimes contradictory accounts. The article frames the deal as a victory for the United States, with less obvious benefits for Venezuela.

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biggest oil deal in world history