US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has rejected accusations that Washington is taking control of Venezuela’s oil resources for its own benefit, insisting that the South American country and its people will continue to own the petroleum beneath their territory.
Wright made the clarification on Wednesday while speaking to AFP and other media outlets at Caracas airport, following his visit to Venezuela to oversee the signing of a series of energy agreements valued at billions of dollars. His comments came amid criticism over the scale of access being granted to US interests under the new arrangements.
Under the agreement, the United States is expected to gain majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil, representing almost one-fifth of the country’s enormous proven reserves. Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, making the deal one of the most consequential developments in its energy sector.
Caracas has projected that the agreement could generate approximately $209 billion in earnings for Venezuela over a 25-year period. Wright argued that the arrangement should not be viewed as a transfer of ownership from the Venezuelan people to the United States, but rather as an effort to attract capital and technology to resources that have remained largely undeveloped.
“I’ve seen those headlines. ‘We’re stealing Venezuelan oil.’ Of course, that’s not true at all,” Wright said.
He maintained that ownership of Venezuela’s oil remains with the Venezuelan people, while private companies participating in production would provide the investment required to bring the country’s dormant resources back into operation.
“The oil in Venezuela is indeed owned by the people of Venezuela,” Wright said, explaining that companies would supply the capital necessary to extract the resources while the Venezuelan government would receive royalties and taxes generated by production.
“Private companies are bringing the money to produce the oil, but the benefits, the royalties and the taxes all go to the government of Venezuela and the people of Venezuela,” he added.
Wright described the arrangement as an attempt to turn Venezuela’s vast but underused natural resources into an economic asset. Rather than leaving oil underground without contributing to the country’s economy, he said, the agreement would bring in financing, technical expertise and technology needed to restart production.
“All we’re doing is taking an idle, underground asset that isn’t doing anything for Venezuelan people and bringing the money, the technology to develop it,” he said.
The energy secretary also highlighted Venezuela’s struggling electricity system, saying the country’s power infrastructure would need significant attention if the oil industry is to operate effectively. Large parts of Venezuela experience daily electricity shortages, with many residents facing hours-long outages.
According to Wright, restoring reliable electricity is therefore inseparable from the broader effort to revive the petroleum industry. Oil production, processing and other energy-sector activities require dependable power, making improvements to the electricity network an important component of the proposed economic recovery.
“You need them both,” Wright said, referring to the oil and electricity sectors.
He expressed optimism that Venezuela would not necessarily have to build an entirely new electricity system from the ground up. Instead, he pointed to existing infrastructure that could potentially be restored and put back into productive use.
Wright said the country could pursue a five-year plan focused on rebuilding and making use of infrastructure that already exists, alongside the wider investment expected to flow into the energy sector through the new agreements.
The energy secretary’s comments come after US President Donald Trump described the agreement announced on Friday as “the biggest oil deal in world history.” The description underscored the extraordinary scale of the arrangement at a time when Venezuela is attempting to revive an economy heavily dependent on its energy resources.
The oil agreement is also unfolding alongside major political changes in Venezuela. Trump on Wednesday pushed back against calls for Washington to immediately demand elections, despite expectations that US-backed discussions between Venezuela’s interim government and sections of the opposition could eventually produce a democratic vote.
Trump said he did not believe Venezuela was prepared to hold elections immediately, arguing that the political situation remained relatively new following the removal of the country’s former leadership.
“I just don’t think they’re ready yet. You know, it’s very new. We took them out of a dictatorship, and we’re getting along great with the government,” Trump said.
US forces ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, after which Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, assumed responsibility for governing the country on an interim basis.
Rodriguez has continued to govern under an arrangement in which Washington exercises substantial influence, while questions remain over how and when Venezuela will transition toward an elected government.
Rodriguez similarly indicated that elections would be held when the country was considered ready for them. Her position broadly reflected the argument that the political system first needs to be stabilized before a national vote can take place.
Wright sought to provide additional clarification about Washington’s position, stressing that elections remained part of the broader political plan rather than being abandoned. He characterized the transition as a process that requires institutional preparations before voters are called to the polls.
“The plan for elections has not changed at all. It’s to continue to get the infrastructure ready and have elections at the appropriate time,” Wright said.
Among the reforms he identified was an overhaul of Venezuela’s Supreme Court. His remarks suggested that Washington views institutional changes as part of the groundwork required before an election can be conducted.
The question of timing is particularly significant because Venezuela’s political transition is taking place alongside an ambitious attempt to rebuild its economy. Wright argued that restoring economic stability and strengthening essential infrastructure should proceed rather than waiting until after elections have been completed.
The secretary said Venezuela’s economy and wider national systems first needed to become more stable, while warning against putting economic recovery on hold during a potentially lengthy electoral process.
“You don’t want to wait, sit on your hands for whatever time it takes to get through elections,” he said.
That approach places the energy agreements at the centre of Washington’s immediate strategy in Venezuela. The US administration is seeking to unlock the country’s enormous oil reserves while simultaneously supporting efforts to restore electricity infrastructure and stabilize the economy.
Wright’s defence of the oil arrangement therefore rests on the distinction between ownership of Venezuela’s natural resources and the control or investment rights granted to companies participating in their development. His argument is that the Venezuelan state and its population remain the ultimate beneficiaries through royalties and taxes, while outside companies provide the capital and technical resources needed to restart production.
The scale of the resources involved, however, explains why the agreement has attracted intense scrutiny. More than 65 billion barrels represent an enormous share of Venezuela’s proven reserves, and the projected $209 billion in earnings over 25 years gives the arrangement potentially far-reaching economic consequences.
For the US, the agreements offer access to one of the world’s largest untapped petroleum opportunities while creating a major role for American capital and technology in Venezuela’s energy recovery. For Caracas, the projected revenues could provide a substantial source of funding as the country seeks to rebuild its economy and essential infrastructure.
Wright’s comments indicate that Washington wants the arrangement presented not as an appropriation of Venezuelan resources, but as a commercial and investment-driven effort to reactivate an energy sector whose potential has remained largely unrealized.
The secretary’s emphasis on electricity also illustrates the scale of the challenge. Reviving oil production alone would not resolve the broader problems facing Venezuela if refineries, production facilities and other parts of the energy system continue to operate under unreliable power conditions.
His proposed five-year approach would therefore combine energy investment with efforts to restore existing infrastructure, with the ultimate objective of creating a functioning system capable of supporting increased petroleum production and wider economic activity.
At the same time, the political transition remains unresolved. Washington says elections remain part of the plan, but both Trump and Rodriguez have argued that Venezuela is not yet ready for an immediate vote. Wright’s description of elections as a process suggests that institutional reform, economic stabilization and infrastructure recovery will precede the eventual ballot.
For now, the oil agreements represent one of the clearest signs of the direction Washington and Caracas are taking. The United States is seeking to mobilize private investment and technology around Venezuela’s vast petroleum reserves, while the interim government is positioning the resulting royalties, taxes and projected revenues as part of the country’s economic recovery.
Wright’s central message was that Venezuela’s oil remains Venezuelan-owned, even as foreign companies are brought in to finance and develop it. Whether that distinction will satisfy critics of the agreement is likely to depend on how the promised investment, government revenues and broader economic benefits are ultimately distributed and realized.
US Energy Secretary Rejects Claims Washington Is ‘Stealing Venezuelan Oil’ as Billions-Dollar Deals Advance
