Venezuela announces oil deal with US

CARACAS -- Venezuela announced Friday what it called "a historic agreement" with the US government to promote investment in the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure for its hydrocarbons industry.

In a statement, Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said the agreement will help strengthen bilateral relations and facilitate a major flow of investment into the country's energy sector.

The agreement will allow Venezuela to significantly increase oil production with the participation of private operators, the statement said.

The agreement "calls for the development of 17 strategic fields, with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels of oil, an investment of more than $100 billion, and more than $209 billion in taxes for the State," it added.

Also on Friday, in a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said, "The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!"

On Jan 3, US military forces launched a large-scale strike against Venezuela and forcibly seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife before transporting them to New York.

On Jan 29, Rodriguez announced the approval of a partial reform of the country's hydrocarbons law to allow greater private participation in the oil sector.