Venezuela announces oil deal with US

Caracas (ANTARA) - Venezuela on Friday (28/8) announced what it called a historic agreement with the United States government to boost investment in the recovery and rebuilding of strategic infrastructure for the country’s hydrocarbon industry.

In a statement, Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said the agreement would help strengthen bilateral relations and facilitate large investment flows into the country’s energy sector.

The agreement will allow Venezuela to significantly increase oil production with the participation of private companies, the statement said.

The agreement covers the development of 17 strategic oil fields, with proven potential of 65 billion barrels of oil, investment of more than US$100 billion (US$1 = Rp17,762), and tax revenue for the state of more than US$209 billion.

Also on Friday, in a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said, “The US has just signed an Agreement with the State of Venezuela on, THE LARGEST OIL DEAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!”

On 3 January, US military forces launched a major attack on Venezuela and forcibly arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, before taking them to New York.

On 29 January, Rodriguez announced approval of a partial reform of the country’s hydrocarbon law to allow greater private sector involvement in the oil sector.