United States President Donald Trump has said on social media that oil from a recently struck deal with Venezuela will be used to replenish the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an oil stockpile that the country keeps for emergencies and that has been drawn down sharply in recent years to respond to global supply disruptions and high fuel prices.

Trump Blames Biden for Low Reserves

The US president wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, that the reserve had been made “virtually” empty, while blaming former US President Joe Biden.

Trump said in the post that the “topping out” process will begin shortly, describing the Venezuelan oil as a “Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States”.

Unclear Timeline for Benefits

It is unclear how quickly the Venezuela deal could provide oil for the reserve or deliver any near-term benefit to US motorists. The agreement Trump announced on Friday is aimed at reviving Venezuela’s battered oil industry, but it will require significant investment and infrastructure work before production can rise substantially.

The US reserve held about 290 million barrels as of August 21, near a 44-year low, after the US drew down its stockpile under both the Biden and Trump administrations in response to global supply disruptions, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the current US-Israel war on Iran.

Venezuela Describes Deal as Historic

The “historic” deal with Washington to hand over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil will last 25 years and allow Venezuela to develop its oil industry while preserving “ownership of and sovereignty” of its resources, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez said in a televised address on Saturday.

The project envisages the development of 17 strategic oilfields with an initial production target of 1.5 million barrels per day, she said.

The broader plan also includes the development of eight greenfield oil blocks as part of a wider expansion of the country’s energy sector.

Under the deal, $19 from every barrel of oil produced and sold to the US will flow to Caracas, an arrangement that could be worth $209bn per year to Venezuela, depending on oil prices, Rodriguez said.

Venezuela will keep ownership of its natural resources “while using capital, technology and operational expertise to support the recovery of a strategic industry that has been severely affected by sanctions”, she said.

Caracas has been under pressure to act in line with Washington’s demands since January, after US special forces abducted then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Venezuela’s Supreme Court handed leadership over to his vice president, Rodriguez.

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.

Rodríguez hailed the accord as a “historic” deal that would help revive the economy and boost government revenue, saying it would help shape the country’s future.

Earlier, she said in a statement that the deal calls for the development of 17 strategic oil fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels, as well as “an investment of more than $100bn and more than $209bn in taxes” for Venezuela.

“These investments will contribute not only to the recovery and modernisation of our industry, but also to our country’s economic growth, the energy security of our hemisphere and greater balance in international markets,” she said.

Under the agreement, the US government will retain 55% control of a joint venture with an “experienced private operator in Venezuela”, a US official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

They said Rodríguez gave the venture a 100-year concession to operate in the oil fields.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the deal “a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people”.

“For the Venezuelan people, this deal will bring nearly $100bn (£74bn) in private investment, support thousands of high-paying jobs and drive the reconstruction of Venezuela’s economy,” he said.

Trump said Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had reached the agreement with Venezuela’s leadership “through a partnership with private business”.

He gave few specifics, nor did he elaborate on the partnership or describe possible US terms and commitments, but he said the deal was reached “at no cost to the American Taxpayer”.

It apparently grants the US direct governance over a foreign country’s sovereign national resources and appears to be wider in scope than the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority’s control over Iraq’s oil revenues.