Just last Friday, the United States struck a major oil deal with Venezuela, opening the door for private American companies to invest in, and potentially help rebuild, a country whose energy sector was devastated by years of socialist mismanagement. 

Although the agreement offers Venezuela an opportunity to revive its neglected oil industry, its most consequential significance lies in what it could mean for Americans. It offers stronger domestic oil companies, expanded access to energy resources, and a new strategic advantage for the United States in a region long defined by instability and hostile foreign influence.

The Trump administration has called it the “biggest oil deal in world history,” and the scale explains why Americans should care. The agreement gives the second largest private oil company in Venezuela, North American Blue Energy Partners 100-year rights to develop 17 Venezuelan oil fields holding about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, more than the roughly 46 billion barrels of proven reserves within the United States. The U.S. government will take a 35 percent stake in the company, giving Washington influence over decisions involving a massive new source of oil.

The State Department will also be able to purchase 20 percent of the oil produced at cost, with priority access to the rest during an emergency. That will not make gas prices fall overnight, but it could give the United States more reliable oil supply, greater protection from foreign disruptions, and more leverage in global energy markets. NABEP plans to invest up to $100 billion in Venezuela’s broken-down oil infrastructure, putting private capital, not American taxpayers, behind the effort. If the effort ultimately succeeds, it could make Venezuela a far more important strategic partner for the United States, mitigating the long-standing influence China and Russia have built in Caracas and pulling a resource-rich nation closer to America’s economic and security orbit.

However, a deal is not a guarantor of success. 

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Daniel Di Martino, a Venezuelan-born economist and Manhattan Institute fellow, cautioned that the agreement will only unlock major new production if it gives oil companies confidence that their investments will be protected long after Trump leaves office. That will be difficult, he warned, so long as Venezuela remains under the control of interim leader Delcy Rodríguez rather than completing a transition to a functioning democracy. The potential benefits are real, but they depend on sustained cooperation, credible legal protections, and a Venezuela that no longer lurches from one political crisis to the next.

"It would be great news if American companies invest in Venezuelan oil fields and increase oil production, that would lower global oil prices and American gasoline prices would fall," Daniel Di Martino previously told Townhall. "But this is all still up in the air and I will believe the announcements when I see the rigs and equipment functioning."

"So far, there is great uncertainty because no agreement will matter after Trump leaves office if the current regime stays in power since they know that Democrats won't do anything about protecting oil companies in Venezuela," he said. "This is why the transition to democracy in Venezuela is the only guarantee of economic recovery."

Still, the upsides are very real, and very achievable. A successful first investment could help draw additional American producers, capital, and technical expertise into the country, allowing Venezuela’s vast but neglected reserves to return to the market. That would not transform global oil leadership overnight, but it would strengthen America’s energy position, expand the global oil supply, and reduce the leverage held by hostile energy powers, all to the benefit of American consumers and national security.