The US is reportedly close to a "large-scale" agreement with Venezuelan oil fields containing 90 million barrels of reserves.

The United States is further expanding its control over Venezuela's oil resources.

According to an Axios report on Thursday, October 27th (Eastern Time), the Trump administration is negotiating a "massive" deal with the Venezuelan interim government, which could grant the United States partial ownership of several Venezuelan oil fields. Two U.S. officials revealed that the negotiations involve more than a dozen producing oil fields, with a combined reserve of approximately 90 million barrels. If the agreement is finalized, U.S. oil reserves could more than double.

Axios states that this would be a major step by the United States to expand its presence in Venezuela's oil industry. The Trump administration hopes to further increase Venezuelan oil production by bringing in American energy companies and capital, while simultaneously strengthening U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere's energy sector.

The specific terms of the agreement are still under negotiation, and the finalization timeline remains unclear. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez are leading the negotiations, while U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright plans to visit Venezuela next week.

More than a dozen oil fields are in negotiations, with the United States seeking partial ownership.

According to Axios, the negotiations were not aimed at Venezuela's total proven oil reserves of approximately 300 billion barrels, but rather at more than a dozen oil fields that are already in production, with a combined reserve of approximately 90 million barrels.

The core idea of the agreement is to give the United States partial ownership of these oil fields and have U.S. energy companies participate in subsequent development to drive further recovery in production.

For the United States, the appeal of this potential deal lies primarily in Venezuela's vast oil resources. Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven oil reserves, but due to years of underinvestment and problems with its oil industry infrastructure, its actual production has long been far below what its resources can support.

Axios states that if the agreement is ultimately reached, U.S. oil reserves will more than double. For the Trump administration, this not only means that U.S. energy companies may acquire new overseas assets, but also that Washington can further intervene in the energy industry of one of the world's largest oil-holding nations.

Trump had been planning this for a long time, and Rubio led the negotiations.

Axios claims that Trump had already privately discussed how to acquire ownership of Venezuela's oil resources even before the U.S. military arrested former Venezuelan President Maduro in January of this year.

The negotiations are currently being led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez.

This means that the Trump administration's move toward Venezuela's oil resources is not a recent development, but rather a gradual extension from early political and security intervention to the level of energy assets.

Axios views this potential agreement as a key component of Trump's "Donroe Doctrine," as the Trump administration seeks to integrate energy security and U.S. energy dominance in the Western Hemisphere into the core framework of its Latin America policy.

From "selling oil to the United States" to direct US participation in development, energy relations have been further upgraded.

If the agreement is ultimately implemented, the energy relationship between the United States and Venezuela will extend beyond crude oil trade to include oil field rights and production development.

Last week, U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Houstervet stated that approximately half of Venezuela's crude oil production currently flows to U.S. refineries. Venezuela, meanwhile, projects its crude oil production will reach 1.245 million barrels per day by the end of August, with exports already up 19.7% this year.

The United States has already become a major buyer of Venezuelan crude oil, and this potential agreement means that US energy companies may further become direct participants in Venezuelan oil fields.

The United States is also helping Venezuela expand production. Hauster previously revealed that the US is supplying Venezuela with more than 100,000 barrels per day of naphtha to blend with heavier local crude oil, thereby helping to increase crude oil production and export capacity.

Therefore, from recent crude oil purchases and production support to this pursuit of oil field equity, the energy relationship between the United States and Venezuela is undergoing a significant change.

The US Energy Secretary will visit Venezuela next week; the next step in the agreement still needs to be finalized.

Axios reports that U.S. Energy Secretary Wright plans to visit Venezuela next week. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy is exploring ways to further increase U.S. energy companies' oil production in Venezuela.

This also means that the oil field equity negotiations may only be part of the Trump administration's push to restructure Venezuela's oil industry.

However, Axios points out that the specific details of the agreement are still being finalized, and the timeline for the final transaction remains unclear. Therefore, whether the 90 million barrels of oil reserves will ultimately be included in the equity of US companies, and what percentage of ownership the US will acquire, remains uncertain.

If the agreement is ultimately finalized, its significance will extend beyond a simple energy investment deal: the United States will further transform from one of the major buyers of Venezuelan crude oil to a direct stakeholder and producer of local oil assets, and the Trump administration's strategy to strengthen the United States' energy dominance in the Western Hemisphere will gain a new foothold.

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