CARACAS — Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez used a Saturday-night state television address to put a price tag and a time horizon on the oil accord President Trump unveiled a day earlier, saying the 65-billion-barrel arrangement will run for 25 years, target 1.5 million barrels a day and generate more than $200 billion for her government while preserving Venezuela's sovereignty.
The remarks on state broadcaster VTV were the first public elaboration by either government of the deal Trump announced Friday, and they set terms Venezuelan opposition figures and outside analysts began challenging within hours.
The Caracas pitch
Rodriguez said the accord covers 17 strategic oil fields and framed it as a bilateral partnership rather than a transfer of control. "This 25-year bilateral project envisages the development of 17 strategic oilfields with a production target of more than 1.5 million barrels per day," she said, according to Fox Business, adding that the figure related "solely to the bilateral agreement between Venezuela and the United States" and not to broader plans. She said her government retained "ownership of and sovereignty" over its resources "while leveraging capital, technology and operational expertise" from abroad, and described the 1.5 million-barrel figure as only an initial goal, with plans to develop eight greenfield blocks.
The Washington version
Trump's Friday announcement had offered fewer specifics. He wrote on Truth Social that the deal "MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves" and would "substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans," and said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had negotiated it with Rodriguez "at no cost to the American Taxpayer" through a partnership with private business. Rubio called the accord "a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people" and said it would bring nearly $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela.
A U.S. official told CBS News that Rodriguez granted a private joint venture — 55 percent controlled by Washington — a 100-year concession over the fields, terms Rodriguez did not repeat on Saturday. The official text has not been published in either country.
The counterpoint
Henrique Capriles, a moderate Venezuelan opposition lawmaker, told the BBC that doubts remained because of the "opacity and corruption" of Rodriguez's government and said officials needed to spell out the constitutional basis for the deal. David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, told Reuters there was "no precedent" for the U.S. government entering into a lease to operate Venezuelan oil fields and questioned whether the arrangement would clear Venezuela's constitution or its hydrocarbons law. "It is hard to see how this kind of arrangement would accelerate investment at any material scale," he said, citing political uncertainty, a weak power grid and limited export capacity. Rachel Ziemba of the Center for New American Security told the BBC the accord was "unlikely to have any material impact on global oil supplies in the next month or even the next year," flagging near-term supply. Oil trader Phil Flynn, on "Fox & Friends Weekend," called it "a generational win for Americans" that would lower prices.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Chevron and Halliburton were nearing deals to invest billions in overhauling infrastructure in Venezuela's oil fields, many of which have not been developed — the commercial test of whether Rodriguez's Saturday projections can be met.