Trump announced the deal on Truth Social at 6:47 PM Friday. "BREAKING NEWS," he wrote, "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!" Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth had secured "majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela."
Nobody has published a document showing the deal exists.
Trump's White House has posted no presidential action all month. Rubio's State Department last posted on Venezuela on August 25. PDVSA and the oil ministry did not answer Reuters or Al Jazeera. OFAC director Bradley T. Smith signed eight amended Venezuela licences on August 27, the day before the post. Not one mentions a joint venture, an American stake, 55 percent, or 65 billion barrels. When Trump moved on Venezuelan oil in February, Rubio's department named the instruments.
The two capitals describe different deals. Trump's officials brief 100-year concessions and 55 percent of output — the Wall Street Journal reports a 35 percent stake in penny warrants through the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denies it: "OSC does not take equity stakes in private companies." Delcy Rodríguez went on VTV Saturday and described 25 years, 17 fields. "Venezuela retains the ownership and sovereignty over its resources," she said. Her communiqué never mentions an American stake.
Alejandro Betancourt López, 46, sits in the middle. He has taken his Barbados-registered North American Blue Energy Partners from 18,000 barrels a day to 200,000 in two years. Fortune calls him Trump's Venezuela fixer. Switzerland wants him arrested.
