Trump’s Venezuela Oil Deal Signals Long Odds to Tap Vast Reserves
The Trump administration announced an agreement with Venezuela and a private oil company to gain majority control of about 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s oil—roughly a fifth of its proven reserves. While Venezuela reportedly holds one of the world’s largest oil endowments, the plan is unusually government-led and is likely to take years to materialize due to Venezuela’s decayed infrastructure, corruption, and political instability.