What we know about Trump's deal giving U.S. access to vast oil reserves in Venezuela
www.deseret.com

... Besides a social media post from President Donald Trump, the White House has said little about what he is calling "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY" in Venezuela.

Trump said the agreement announced Friday night would give the United States a stake in Venezuela's vast oil reserves, a step toward his goal of extracting energy from the country after American forces captured then-President Nicols Maduro in a middle-of-the-night raid in January and brought him to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges.

But the answers to many questions, including how soon the reserves could be drilled and who will pay to make it happen, were not immediately clear. No text of any agreement has been released.

A look at what is known and unknown:

What are the terms?

The U.S. government and an unnamed private operator in Venezuela formed a new company that was given the rights to untapped oil fields for 100 years.

A statement from Rodrguez said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.

Trump said the agreement was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Rodrguez. ...

Will gas prices go down?

Probably not any time soon.

Trump says the deal will help lower gas prices for Americans. That is an important objective for the Republican president as the Iran war slows the shipping of Persian Gulf oil and keeps prices elevated months before November elections in the United States.

But experts have repeatedly warned that Venezuela's dilapidated oil infrastructure will take years and billions of dollars to repair. A substantial boost in production is not expected to happen quickly. ...

How will Venezuelans react?

Some in Venezuela considered it a betrayal of what their government has stated repeatedly for decades: Venezuelan resources are for Venezuela, and leaders would not allow the U.S. government access to those resources. ...

Exxon and Chevron decline new spending in Venezuela while taking a wait-and-see approach for the years ahead (January 2026)
fortune.com

... U.S. Big Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron said Jan. 30 they have no plans to increase their capital spending in Venezuela this year while they wait and see how legal and political reforms unfold to make the country more inviting to foreign oil investments.

Since forcibly removing leader Nicolas Maduro from power, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted U.S. oil companies will spend more than $100 billion in Venezuela to dramatically rebuild its dilapidated infrastructure.

But Exxon Mobil chairman and CEO Darren Woods infamously drew Trump's ire earlier this month when he told the president that Venezuela is currently "uninvestable" until major reforms are enacted and the country sees real stability. After all, Exxon had its oil assets expropriated in Venezuela less than 20 years ago.

Trump later said Woods' remarks were "too cute" and that he may be inclined to keep the world's largest Big Oil player out of Venezuela.

Woods said Jan. 30 on his fourth-quarter earnings call that he does believe the Trump administration is committed to making the necessary changes to eventually turn Venezuela into a viable investment option. How soon remains to be seen. Venezuela's National Assembly began approving reforms to its oil and gas laws on Jan. 29. ...