US nears deal to secure stake in Venezuelan oil fields, insiders say

US President Donald Trump’s administration is working on a deal to lock in long-term access to some of Venezuela’s crude reserves, Reuters sources have said.

The agreement, which insiders said could be signed and made public soon, is expected to operate in a way that would let the US government secure a group of Venezuelan oilfields to be developed by American companies, with the resulting supply guaranteed for the US.

“This is real and being discussed at the highest levels of the US and Venezuelan governments,” one of the sources said.

A separate source said a “lease” was in consideration as the legal model to make the deal work, with a further auction or tender to allocate each one of the fields among US producers.

A list of 17 fields in negotiation seen by Reuters includes green fields in the vast Orinoco Belt, combined with mature areas in Lake Maracaibo, some of which are currently operated by a small Chinese firm whose contract was signed during the administration of former President Nicolas Maduro.

The White House referred questions to the US Department of Energy. Venezuela’s oil ministry, state oil company PDVSA and the Energy Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Venezuelan oil minister Paula Henao could not be reached for comment.

Caracas is considering leaving the OPEC oil production group as it strengthens ties with the US, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Venezuela, which joined the group as a founding member in 1960, has not met OPEC quotas for years as its state-run oil industry suffered from neglect and corruption. Washington has long been at odds with OPEC for its influence on oil prices.

Current hydrocarbons regulation in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest crude reserves, does not include acreage leases for oil areas, while the constitution reserves the industry’s core activities to the state.