MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Washington negotiates stakes in Venezuelan oil fields with leases of up to a century

The negotiation covers around a dozen fields holding some 90 billion barrels of proven reserves, close to a third of the roughly 300 billion Venezuela has certified, the world's largest

The United States government is negotiating with Venezuela's interim administration to acquire stakes in a group of the South American country's oil fields, under arrangements that would include leases of up to a hundred years, the outlets Axios and Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing unnamed senior US officials.

Neither side has confirmed the talks. The White House declined to comment and referred questions to the Department of Energy, which did not respond. Nor did Venezuela's oil ministry, the state oil company PDVSA or the information ministry, and hydrocarbons minister Paula Henao could not be reached.

According to the sources cited by Axios, the negotiation covers around a dozen fields holding some 90 billion barrels of proven reserves, close to a third of the roughly 300 billion Venezuela has certified, the world's largest. A list of 17 fields seen by the Reuters news agency includes new areas in the Orinoco Belt and mature fields in Lake Maracaibo, some currently operated by a Chinese company under a contract signed during Nicolás Maduro's tenure.

The scheme under discussion would give Washington an ownership interest in designated fields, with private companies, including American ones, brought in to modernise and operate them. Venezuela would receive higher revenues from increased output. The talks are led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting president Delcy Rodríguez, and there is no timetable for a final agreement. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has considered travelling to Venezuela next week. “Calling this deal huge would be an understatement,” one of the officials told Axios.

The move also responds to domestic pressures. The administration faces rising petrol prices ahead of November's midterm elections and is seeking to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It fits a recent pattern too: the US government has taken stakes in companies including Intel, MP Materials and Lithium Americas, and in what Bloomberg calls the so-called Donroe Doctrine of extending American influence across the hemisphere.

In parallel, Bloomberg reported that Caracas is considering leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which it helped found in 1960 and whose quotas it has failed to meet for years. The United Arab Emirates announced its departure in April and Iraq raised the possibility in June before dropping it. Venezuela currently produces around 1.25 million barrels a day.

The talks follow the hydrocarbons law reform Rodríguez enacted on January 30, less than a month after Maduro's capture by US forces, and the easing of the oil embargo by the US Treasury. Officials cited by Axios acknowledge the acting president could face accusations of handing over the country's natural resources.