Democratic lawmakers have criticised President Donald Trump’s newly announced agreement giving the United States majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves, questioning whether the deal will benefit American consumers or primarily serve private interests.
Trump announced the agreement on Friday, describing it as the “biggest oil deal in world history” and saying it would boost U.S. oil supplies, increase American reserves and help lower gasoline prices.
But Democrats immediately challenged the president’s claims, arguing that the arrangement could expose U.S. service members to risks while benefiting wealthy investors and major oil companies.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen said the agreement should not be celebrated as a victory.
“Let’s be clear: this isn’t a win,” Van Hollen said in a social media post, accusing Trump of putting U.S. military personnel at risk to secure Venezuelan oil for wealthy allies.
“Putting our soldiers’ lives on the line for private profit is a gross dereliction of his constitutional duty,” he added.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, similarly accused the administration of using the removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a means of gaining control of the country’s oil resources.
Kaine questioned whether American consumers would actually see significant reductions in fuel prices, arguing that the administration’s policies had contributed to higher energy costs.
He also warned that the agreement could benefit Trump’s family and major oil companies while slowing the transition to cleaner energy.
“Using our troops for a private oil grab is corruption at epic scale,” Kaine said.
The agreement, according to U.S. officials, involves a new joint venture between the U.S. government and a private Venezuelan operator. The arrangement gives the United States an effective 55 percent share of the venture’s output through equity and rights to purchase oil at cost. The fields involved contain about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.
Venezuela says the agreement covers 17 oil fields and could attract about $100 billion in investment into the country’s struggling petroleum industry, while generating more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Caracas.
Trump has argued that the deal will strengthen U.S. energy security and help bring down gasoline prices. However, analysts have cautioned that Venezuela’s badly damaged oil infrastructure means any substantial increase in production could take years.
Republicans have defended the agreement, with Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno accusing Democrats of opposing a deal that could benefit both countries.
Moreno argued that under the previous Venezuelan leadership, the country’s oil resources were being exploited to the detriment of its people, whereas the new agreement could bring investment and economic opportunities to Venezuela.
Venezuela’s interim President, Delcy Rodríguez, has also welcomed the agreement, describing it as a historic milestone in relations between Caracas and Washington.
Rodríguez said the investment would help revive and modernise Venezuela’s oil industry, stimulate economic growth, strengthen energy security in the Western Hemisphere and contribute to greater stability in international oil markets.
The deal comes months after the U.S. military operation that resulted in Maduro’s capture and amid continued pressure on the Trump administration to address elevated fuel prices in the United States.
While Trump has presented the agreement as a major energy breakthrough, significant details about its implementation, financing and private-sector participants remain unclear, leaving Democrats and other critics questioning its long-term economic and political implications.
