A historic and highly controversial oil agreement signed in Caracas grants a US-led company 100-year rights to 17 Venezuelan oilfields — more than 20% of the nation's proven reserves — prompting accusations of neo-colonialism and deep anger across Venezuela's political spectrum.
A sweeping oil deal signed in Caracas on Wednesday has granted a US-led consortium 100-year concessions over 17 Venezuelan oilfields containing an estimated 65 billion barrels of crude — equivalent to more than one-fifth of the country's proven oil reserves. The agreement marks the realisation of a stated goal of US President Donald Trump, who declared shortly after Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was removed from power in January that the United States would "run" Venezuela and manage its oil resources for the foreseeable future. Trump hailed the pact as "the biggest oil deal in world history," while interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez described it as "historic," projecting it would generate $100 billion in investment and more than $200 billion in tax revenue over its lifespan.
The framework establishes a partnership between the US government and a private Venezuelan firm, North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), the country's second-largest private oil producer after Chevron. In a highly unusual provision, the US government will hold veto power over the appointment of any Nabep board member, and a majority of the board must be US citizens. The White House has explicitly framed the agreement as a restoration of the Monroe Doctrine — the 19th-century principle asserting US hegemony over the Americas — stating it "purges foreign malign influence from our backyard and ensures American dominance in our hemisphere is never again questioned." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum described the pact as "shifting the geopolitical centre of the global energy markets" away from Middle Eastern choke points toward the Western Hemisphere.
The deal has provoked fierce criticism from across Venezuela's political spectrum and from independent analysts. Elliott Abrams, Trump's former special representative on Venezuela and Iran, called it "a terrible deal" and a "kind of fever dream of what colonialism looks like," arguing Rodríguez had "given away 20% of the national patrimony for nothing." Economist Ricardo Hausmann accused the US of "asset seizure" and striking an unconstitutional agreement with an illegitimate government rather than first restoring democracy. "You chose to use the power of the United States not to liberate Venezuelans, but to ally yourself with our oppressors," he wrote. Former oil minister and PDVSA head Rafael Ramírez, once a key figure in Hugo Chávez's government, warned the deal "hands over [the oil] and opens the doors to a new colonialism of the United States."
Critics also question the economic realism of the projections. While Trump claimed profits could flow within two or three years, energy experts warn Venezuela's oil infrastructure has been severely neglected and requires an estimated $100 billion in investment over eight years merely to return to production levels of three decades ago. Luis Pacheco of Rice University's Baker Institute noted the deeper concern: "Are they going to put the same people in charge of managing that money who already squandered the biggest oil boom of the century?" The absence of any clear roadmap toward elections or the restoration of constitutional order has compounded fears that the agreement cedes permanent control of Venezuela's most valuable resource before a legitimate government can be established.
The deal also underscores the dramatic reversal in US posture toward Rodríguez, who served as Maduro's vice-president and was once reviled by the Trump administration as part of a corrupt narco-regime. The swift pivot — coming after the US deployed an overwhelming naval armada to the region — has dismayed opposition figures, though leading presidential hopeful María Corina Machado, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has so far declined to publicly criticise Trump, whose support she may need to secure power. For many Venezuelans, the agreement represents not an economic partnership but a transfer of sovereignty — one that Hugo Chávez famously vowed would never happen when he declared in 2008: "We have the reins in our hands and we won't ever let them go again."
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