Venezuela's oil industry, once dominated by state control, continues to move toward foreign partnership under acting President Delcy Rodriguez, following a landmark deal with the United States announced late last month.
Under the agreement, a new company formed by the U.S. government and a private operator called North American Blue Energy Partners was granted development rights over 17 oil fields holding proven reserves of about 65 billion barrels, eight of them in the Maracaibo Basin and nine in the Orinoco Oil Belt. Officials have offered differing accounts of the deal's length, with President Trump describing it as a 100 year agreement and Rodriguez describing it as a 25 year binational project. Rodriguez has said Venezuela will receive about 19 dollars from every barrel sold to the United States, based on an assumed oil price of 65 dollars a barrel, and that the deal could draw in around 100 billion dollars of investment while preserving Venezuelan ownership and sovereignty over the resources.
The agreement follows a period of dramatic change in Venezuela's oil policy. Rodriguez became acting president in January, after Nicolas Maduro was taken into U.S. custody, and has since signed laws opening both the oil and mining sectors to greater foreign investment, reversing decades of state-led policy. Chevron has already expanded its stake in a joint venture with the Venezuelan state, and the country's oil chamber has said a national production target of 1.3 million barrels a day is achievable by late 2026 or early 2027, up from levels that had fallen sharply amid years of sanctions and underinvestment. The International Monetary Fund has projected Venezuela's economy could grow around 4 percent this year and 6 percent next year, among the fastest rates in Latin America.
The scale and speed of the opening have drawn discussion inside Venezuela over how the details were negotiated, since no public bidding process was held for the 17 fields. Rodriguez has addressed oil and gas workers directly in recent weeks, emphasizing their role in keeping the industry running and framing the new contracts as a path to better wages and investment in the sector.
Analysts are watching whether production actually rises toward the 1.5 million barrel a day target officials have set, and how quickly promised investment materializes on the ground.
Who is Delcy Rodriguez?
She is Venezuela's acting president, a role she assumed in January 2026 after Nicolas Maduro was taken into U.S. custody; she previously served as vice president and in several cabinet posts.
How much money will Venezuela get from the deal?
Rodriguez has said about $19 will flow to Venezuela from each barrel sold to the U.S. under the arrangement, based on an assumed price of $65 a barrel.