The US has struck a deal with Venezuela to control more than 65 billion barrels of its proven oil reserves, Donald Trump said.
The US president wrote that the agreement would more than double American oil reserves and “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans”.
In a late-night address on Saturday, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez hailed the deal as one that would help her nation’s economic revival.
But some analysts have reacted with scepticism, including questioning whether it would address long-running obstacles that have deterred investment in its oil industry.
Trump has recently been under domestic pressure to tame petrol prices, which have spiked due to the Iran war.
He vowed to tap into Venezuela’s reserves, the world’s largest, after the US captured its then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, ostensibly to stand trial on drug charges in New York.
Rodriguez, who is Maduro’s former vice-president and who the US backed following his capture, said on Saturday that the energy agreement with the US would remain in force for 25 years.
She said it would target an increase in crude output to 1.5 million barrels per day and preserve the country’s sovereignty over its natural resources.
