Delcy Rodríguez faces backlash over US oil access agreement

Venezuela just handed the United States the keys to roughly a fifth of its oil kingdom, and not everyone back home is celebrating.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed a sweeping oil agreement with Washington on August 28, 2026, hours after President Donald Trump announced it from the American side. The deal gives US interests 55% effective control over oil output across 17 strategic fields containing an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, about 22% of Venezuela’s total. The development lease runs for 100 years.

What the deal actually looks like

The arrangement is structured as a public-private venture, with projected private investment exceeding $100 billion. In return, Venezuela stands to collect more than $209 billion in tax revenue over the life of the concession. Rodríguez called it a “historic milestone” and framed it as the catalyst for economic recovery, infrastructure rebuilding, and the revival of a petroleum industry that has spent years in freefall.

Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, sitting on roughly 300 billion barrels total, which means the fields covered by this agreement represent about 22% of the national endowment.

Hard-liners, economists, and opposition figures have slammed the deal from multiple angles. The most pointed criticism centers on whether Rodríguez even has the constitutional authority to bind the nation to a commitment this large. She assumed power after Nicolás Maduro was captured by US forces in January 2026. Critics argue that the 100-year concession term echoes extractive arrangements Latin American nations spent the better part of the 20th century unwinding, and that the fiscal take per barrel is historically unfavorable compared to what resource-rich nations typically negotiate in modern petroleum agreements.

The sovereignty question

Venezuela’s oil sector has been a flashpoint for national identity politics since the early 2000s, when Hugo Chávez nationalized foreign oil operations and turned PDVSA, the state oil company, into a tool of government policy. Rodríguez’s authority derives from a chain of events that began with the US-led capture of Maduro, and signing a century-long resource concession with the very country that removed the previous president has drawn criticism on constitutional grounds. Resource concessions of this magnitude typically require legislative approval, and the current status of Venezuela’s National Assembly makes the legal landscape contested.

Market and geopolitical implications

Venezuela’s output has cratered over the past decade due to mismanagement, underinvestment, and successive rounds of US sanctions. At its peak, the country produced over 3 million barrels per day. Analysts have noted that increased Venezuelan production could put downward pressure on US gasoline prices. The deal could also reshape competitive dynamics among major oil-producing nations, particularly within OPEC, where Venezuela has historically been a member but has wielded diminishing influence as its output collapsed.