The U.S. is reportedly in advanced talks, according to people familiar with the negotiations, to secure long-term access to a portion of Venezuela's oil and gas reserves. Neither government has confirmed a deal.
The United States is reportedly in advanced talks to secure long-term access to a portion of Venezuela's oil and gas reserves, an estimated 90 billion barrels across 17 fields the U.S. is already overseeing the export of, according to people familiar with the negotiations, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. The talks are described as advanced but not finalized, and neither government has commented on the record.
No deal structure, timeline or specific financial arrangement has been made public.
If finalized, a deal along these lines would represent a genuine extension of U.S. involvement in Venezuelan energy policy and a potentially meaningful supply-side data point for global crude markets, particularly against the backdrop of the oil-price volatility already playing out this week around the Strait of Hormuz.
What would move this from a developing story to a confirmed one is a specific deal announcement or an on-the-record statement from either government. Neither has happened so far.