Venezuela reiterates that its oil remains 'indisputably' Venezuelan after U.S. deal

Venezuela has drawn a firm line around its oil after its agreement with the United States: the resources remain Venezuelan, the government says.

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The control and ownership of the resources in the subsoil indisputably remain with Venezuela.

“The control and ownership of the resources in the subsoil indisputably remain with Venezuela,” Hydrocarbons Minister Paula Henao told private broadcaster Venevisión. She said the deal concerns investment and technology, not a transfer of ownership.

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a commercial agreement

The agreement covers the exploitation of a fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves, described in the report as the world's largest. Henao called it “a commercial agreement” and said the Venezuelan people are offering a “gift” to the American people, using language that echoed the debate over the deal's terms.

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world history

U.S. President Donald Trump gave the agreement a sharply different emphasis. On Aug. 28, he described it as the largest deal in “world history” and said it secured majority U.S. control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan reserves. Two days later, he called it “a gift from Venezuela to the people of the United States.”

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a gift from Venezuela to the people of the United States