CARACAS — The Trump administration is negotiating with Venezuelan officials to secure long-term access to Venezuela's oil and gas reserves. "This is real and being discussed at the highest levels of the US and Venezuelan governments," a source said.

Negotiations include a list of 17 oilfields in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo regions. One deal under discussion was a 100-year lease on several oilfields. A separate source said a lease was in consideration as the legal model for the deal, with a further auction or tender to allocate fields among US producers.

Trump officials were in advanced talks to take a direct stake in more than a dozen oilfields containing 90 billion barrels. Venezuela has an estimated 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, compared to Saudi Arabia's estimated 268 billion barrels and Iran's estimated 208 billion barrels.

Delcy Rodríguez serves as Venezuela's interim president. She was Nicolás Maduro’s vice-president and minister of petroleum. "Delcy’s been doing a fantastic job," Donald Trump told reporters. Trump claimed Venezuela was "not really ready" for a vote.

Venezuela signed deals with SLB and Hunt Oil Co earlier this month. Pacific Coast Energy is finalizing an agreement with PDVSA and the Venezuelan government to develop and operate oil fields in the country. Chevron is extracting and exporting oil from Venezuela to the US. ConocoPhillips has not returned to operating oilfields in Venezuela.

Paula Henao is Venezuela's oil minister. Diosdado Cabello serves as Venezuela's interior minister. The United States has a $25 million bounty on Diosdado Cabello for alleged drug trafficking. María Corina Machado is an exiled opposition leader in Venezuela.

Current hydrocarbons regulation in Venezuela does not include acreage leases for oil areas. The Venezuelan Constitution reserves the oil industry's core activities to the state. Recently reformed oil legislation in Venezuela allows oilfield operation through joint ventures and production-sharing contracts. Venezuela currently produces approximately 1.25 million barrels per day of crude oil.

The US Department of Energy referred questions from the White House regarding the negotiations. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently holds about 290 million barrels. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at about 41% of its total capacity.

Gregory Brew is an energy historian and Eurasia Group analyst. "Quite a lot of suspicion and rejection of any deal that would hand the United States government effective control over Venezuelan resources" is anticipated, Brew said. "It sounds colonial, because it is," Brew said.

"An illegitimate interim government with an illegitimate hydrocarbons law has no legitimacy to strike this unconstitutional deal. It will be a fiasco for all involved," Ricardo Hausmann wrote on X. "Handing over Venezuela’s oil wealth to the US contravenes the constitution and is not in the interest of the Venezuelan people – much more when it is done at gunpoint," Francisco Rodríguez said.

Why It Matters

Venezuela is considering leaving the OPEC oil production group as it strengthens ties with the US. The Department of Homeland Security is terminating the categorical parole programs for inadmissible aliens from Venezuela and their immediate family members, known as the CHNV parole programs.

What's New

"We're proud to play a constructive role in revitalizing and growing the country's oil and gas production," Hunter Hunt said.

How Sources Differ

Energy industry data states that Venezuela has an estimated 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves.