Reported US oil talks in Venezuela trigger backlash from opposition and critics
Plans reported this week for the United States to take a large stake in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector have set off a fierce backlash,
Plans reported this week for the United States to take a large stake in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector have set off a fierce backlash, with critics calling the idea predatory and unconstitutional. The uproar lands at a sensitive moment for a country that holds the world’s biggest proven crude reserves.
Several media outlets said the Trump administration, which took control of Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro was abducted in January, is seeking long-term access to the South American nation’s energy wealth. The report has sharpened fears that one of the world’s most resource-rich countries could lose control over a prized strategic asset. Big stakes. Big stakes.
Talks said to be advancing
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump officials were in advanced talks with Venezuelan officials to take a direct stake in more than a dozen oilfields. The fields are said to contain about 90 billion barrels, or nearly a third of Venezuela’s energy reserves.
A Reuters source said the negotiations are real and being discussed at the highest levels of both governments. The fields under discussion are in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo regions, two of Venezuela’s most important oil-producing areas.
Axios also reported on the proposed deal, adding to pressure on the arrangement before any formal announcement has been made.
Why the reaction is so sharp
Critics say the reported move would hand Washington long-term leverage over Venezuelan energy production at a time when the country’s politics are already under direct US control. That has turned the talks into more than a commercial question. For opponents, it looks like a grab.
Venezuela sits on estimated crude reserves of 303 billion barrels, more than Saudi Arabia’s 268 billion and Iran’s 208 billion, according to the figures cited in the reports. Any deal tied to that scale would carry consequences well beyond Caracas.
The language from opponents has been blunt. One description making the rounds this week called the reported push “predatory,” while another branded it a “rapacious” land grab. Those are not words chosen lightly.
Energy, power and sovereignty
The dispute cuts to a familiar fault line in global politics: who controls the oil, who benefits from it, and what happens when foreign influence meets domestic weakness. Venezuela’s reserves have long made it a strategic prize. Now the fight is over access, ownership and the terms of any future partnership.
For the opposition, the central issue is sovereignty. For Washington, the stakes appear to be long-term access to a vast energy base at a time when global oil politics remain tightly linked to security and power. The reports suggest talks are still moving. And the backlash is already loud.
“This is real and being discussed at the highest levels of the US and Venezuelan governments,” a Reuters source said.
