“Trump announces deal with Venezuela to secure more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves”

What actually happened

Trump announced on social media that the U.S. had struck an oil agreement with Venezuela's interim government, claiming it secured majority U.S. control of "more than 65 BILLION BARRELS" at no cost to taxpayers. Venezuela's government said the deal covers development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels and could draw $100 billion in investment. A U.S. official described the arrangement as securing "more than half the value" of the resulting company, split between equity and guaranteed at-cost oil supply, not outright ownership of the barrels themselves.

Key facts

• Rodríguez's government said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels.
• It said the agreement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.
• A U.S. official said the government "secured more than half the value of this new oil giant, split between equity ownership and guaranteed at-cost off-take."
• Venezuela's total proven reserves are far larger than the deal's scope, so the 65 billion figure is a subset tied to specific fields, not the whole country's oil.
• The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. reached around $4.09 on Friday, a 27% increase year over year, according to AAA.
• West Texas Intermediate crude prices fell 4% this week, marking the first losing week of the last three, though prices have jumped more than 24% since the U.S. war with Iran began.

What to watch for

Watch whether "proven potential" translates into actual barrels reaching U.S. shores, an earlier January announcement of 30-50 million barrels from Venezuela has not been shown to have fully materialised. Also watch gas prices into the midterms: Trump says the deal "should bring down prices," but that is a prediction, not yet a result reflected in AAA's own numbers cited in the same article.