Venezuela’s interim president affirms US energy deal lasting 25 years

Venezuela just signed what might be the most consequential oil agreement in the Western Hemisphere in decades. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that a sweeping energy deal with the United States will run for 25 years, covering the development of 17 oil fields sitting on 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The target: boosting Venezuela’s crude oil production to 1.5 million barrels per day, a figure that would represent a dramatic resurrection for an industry that spent years decaying under sanctions and mismanagement.

What the deal actually looks like

The agreement is structured as a joint venture giving the US a 55% effective output stake through private-sector partners. Among the key private-sector figures involved is Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt López, who has emerged as a central player in the post-Maduro economic landscape.

The projected numbers are staggering. The deal is expected to attract more than $100 billion in investment, while generating over $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela over its lifespan.

Former President Donald Trump described the arrangement as “the biggest oil deal in world history” in a social media post.

The backstory: from Maduro to a new era

This deal doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It follows the capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro by US forces in January 2026, a move that upended the political order in Caracas and installed Rodríguez as interim president. Maduro had faced drug-trafficking charges at the time of his capture.

Under Maduro, Venezuela’s oil output had collapsed from its peak of around 3.3 million barrels per day in the late 1990s to figures that sometimes dipped below 400,000 barrels per day. Years of underinvestment, corruption, the exodus of skilled workers, and layer upon layer of US sanctions turned what was once OPEC’s crown jewel into an object lesson in resource mismanagement.

Rodríguez’s government has made revitalizing the oil sector its top economic priority, enacting legislative reforms and entering into bilateral partnerships aimed at enticing US capital back into the energy sector. This has included earlier contracts with companies like General Electric and Hunt Oil aimed at rejuvenating the power grid and oil service infrastructure.

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