Venezuela’s Crude Will Refill the US Strategic Reserve ‘Very Soon’, Trump Says — Caracas Publishes Its Price per Barrel
VENEZUELA · ENERGY
Key Facts
—What happened: Trump said Venezuelan crude will refill the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve “very soon”, calling it a gift to Americans.
—How empty: The reserve holds 289.7 million barrels, about 41 percent of its 714-million-barrel authorised capacity.
—What Caracas published: Acting president Delcy Rodríguez says the state gets about US$19 per barrel, and US$209 billion in taxes over 25 years.
—The catch: Venezuelan crude is heavy and high in sulphur, and engineers warned in January the salt caverns may not take it easily.
—The other answer: Exiled opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia says recovery cannot be measured “only in barrels”.
—Meanwhile in Brooklyn: Maduro’s first prison photos appeared on his profile at the weekend, with the message “we stand firm”.
Donald Trump says Venezuelan oil will refill the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve “very soon”. Caracas answered by publishing its price per barrel, the opposition answered from exile, and Nicolás Maduro answered from a Brooklyn cell with his first prison photographs.
What Trump promised on Sunday
Donald Trump said on Sunday that Venezuelan oil will refill the United States’ emergency crude stockpile, and soon. “The topping out process will begin very shortly,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He called the arrangement “a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States”. He blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for leaving the reserve “virtually emptied”.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is America’s emergency oil stash, stored in salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana. It held 289.7 million barrels in the week to 21 August, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
That is about 41 percent of its authorised 714 million barrels. Stocks have fallen nearly 30 percent this year alone, after releases tied to the Iran war.
The promise rests on Friday’s agreement, under which Washington says it secured control of 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves. That is about a fifth of the country’s proven total.
Caracas answers with numbers
Acting president Delcy Rodríguez replied on Saturday with something rare in this story: figures. The binational project runs 25 years and covers 17 strategic fields, she said in a televised address.
The production target exceeds 1.5 million barrels a day. At a reference price of US$65 a barrel, she put the state’s tax income at US$209.335 billion over the life of the deal.
“For every barrel produced and sold, approximately US$19 directly enter our country,” she said. The eight new blocks in the Orinoco Oil Belt carry royalties of at least 16 percent and income tax of 34 percent.
She compared that with the 1990s oil opening, when similar blocks paid royalties of 1 percent. She also named Chevron, Repsol, Eni, Shell and BP as companies in line for further agreements.
Her sovereignty line was deliberate. “Venezuela retains ownership and sovereignty over its resources,” she said, promising citizens the right to know what is invested, what is produced and what the state receives.
The catch: heavy crude, empty caverns
Trump’s gift has an engineering problem. Venezuelan oil is heavy and high in sulphur, and the American Petroleum Institute warned in January that the reserve’s caverns face logistical problems accepting it.
The Energy Department has published no technical guidelines for the transfers. The New York Times summed up the plan on Sunday as “not so simple”.
There is also a legal fight ahead. Democratic lawmakers have criticised a structure that grants a joint venture 100-year concessions over fields holding 63 billion barrels, with the US government taking 55 percent of effective output.
No contract text has been published. Everything known about the split comes from official statements on both sides, which do not always match.
Answers from exile and from a Brooklyn cell
From exile in Spain, Edmundo González Urrutia countered on Sunday. He is the man much of the international community recognises as the real winner of the 2024 election.
“Recovery cannot be measured only in barrels,” he said, warning that the country’s oil could end up benefiting “only a few”. Progress, he argued, should be measured in citizens’ wellbeing, and his coalition is not part of the talks Washington backs.
Meanwhile Nicolás Maduro answered from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His social-media profile published the first prison photographs since his capture by US forces in January.
The images show him flashing peace signs. An attached message said he and his wife, Cilia Flores, “stand firm”, and Maduro has pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in New York.
What to watch from here
First, watch the barrels rather than the posts. A “topping out” announcement needs a delivery schedule, a crude grade the caverns can accept and Energy Department guidelines that do not yet exist.
Second, watch Caracas’s arithmetic. The US$19-a-barrel figure assumes US$65 oil, and crude opened this week near US$90 after fresh US–Iran strikes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Third, watch the politics. Every dollar on the oil price raises the value of this deal, which gives both governments reasons to move quickly and critics reasons to ask who actually benefits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Trump say about Venezuelan oil and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
On Sunday 30 August he said Venezuelan oil would be used to “fill up” the reserve, with the “topping out” process beginning “very shortly”. He called it “a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States”.
How empty is the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
It held 289.7 million barrels in the week to 21 August, about 41 percent of its 714-million-barrel authorised capacity. Stocks have fallen nearly 30 percent this year, after releases tied to the Iran war.
What terms did Delcy Rodríguez publish?
A 25-year binational project over 17 strategic fields, targeting more than 1.5 million barrels a day. At a US$65 reference price, she projects US$209.335 billion in taxes for the Venezuelan state, about US$19 per barrel.
Can the reserve physically take Venezuelan oil?
It is not straightforward. Venezuelan oil is heavy and high in sulphur, and the American Petroleum Institute warned in January that the caverns have logistical problems with it. The Energy Department has issued no guidelines yet.
What did Maduro’s prison photos show?
The first images since his January capture, posted on his social-media profile at the weekend, showed him flashing peace signs. An attached message said he and his wife “stand firm” in Brooklyn, where he faces narco-terrorism charges.
Sources
The Hill, Anadolu Agency, Bloomberg, Reuters, the acting president’s televised address of 29 August, CNN en Español, Efecto Cocuyo, the US Energy Information Administration and The New York Times.
Connected Coverage
We reported the field-by-field talks in the 17 Venezuelan oil fields under discussion with Washington, the missing paperwork in a Trump–Venezuela oil deal with no published text and the revenue split in the 55-percent US–Venezuela oil deal, explained.
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