Venezuela retains sovereignty over oil resources despite US access agreement

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on Saturday that the country would retain "sovereignty" over its oil resources despite a new agreement with the US that grants Washington significant access to the South American nation's reserves.

"One thing must be absolutely clear: Venezuela retains ownership and sovereignty over its resources," Rodríguez said in a speech broadcast on state television.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was announced by US President Donald Trump on Friday, the US is set to take control of 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's oil reserves.

According to Rodríguez, the deal also "calls for the development of 17 strategic fields" and could see investment of "more than $100 billion, and more than $209 billion in taxes for the state."

Rodríguez says the aim is to turn Venezuela's underground resources into a "source of social and economic well-being for the people of Venezuela."

However, some have accused the government of a lack of transparency surrounding the deal, with questions also being raised on social media about whether it will truly benefit Venezuelans.

The agreement comes after more than a decade of struggling to attract investment amid a deep economic crisis in the country.

Some analysts have now welcomed the US' role as a "guarantor" for investments into Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven reserves.

"Without this, these fields would not be developed over the next 10 or 15 years," Oswaldo Felizzola, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Administration (IESA), told AFP, adding that Venezuela's state-owned energy firm Petróleos de Venezuela "does not have the financial resources to do so."

Oil production in Venezuela rose by 29.8% between January and July, reaching 1.2 million barrels a day, although it remains well below the three million barrels a day recorded 25 years ago.

Rodríguez has introduced reforms in the mining and oil sectors to facilitate the entry of private and foreign capital, while Washington has relaxed sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector.

In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the deal as a "huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people."

"It demonstrates how President Trump's bold foreign policy is driving America First wins: securing stable reserves and low-cost oil in our Hemisphere and lowering gas prices here at home," he wrote.