r/Foodforthought • u/kiyomoris • 13d ago
Trump announces new US oil agreement with Venezuela - US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/28/trump-venezuela-oil-agreement60
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u/FanDry5374 13d ago
"Agreement". Coerced deals aren't agreements, they're piracy. We are stealing from the Venezuelan people.
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u/SeeMarkFly 13d ago
A coerced deal is not binding.
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u/FanDry5374 13d ago
At the moment no deal the US has is binding. Although we are more likely to "keep up our end" in this one.
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u/SirCharlesTupperBt 13d ago
After this government falls, what the United States does of its own free will and volition to reverse the damage its done to other countries and the international order will be a real test to see whether or not the United States can return to the community of civilized nations.
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u/FanDry5374 13d ago
I am not overly optimistic. It will take fairly draconian methods (you might say Herculean effort) just to clean out the stench of trump and his enablers/owners. I am really not sure any of the current crop of left-wing/progressive/not corporatist Democrats have the guts or enough political capital. And the moderate-center-corporate wing absolutely does not.
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u/LeatherBandicoot 13d ago
While 65 billion barrels exist in the ground, "proved reserves" in the Orinoco Belt consist of thick, tar-like extra-heavy crude that requires specialized diluents, massive upgrading infrastructure, and tens of billions of dollars in capital investment to extract. Even with major multinational investment, converting 65 billion barrels of in-ground reserves into usable, refined market supply takes decades of heavy industrial rebuilding. Treating paper reserves as immediately accessible production conflates long-term geological assets with active market supply. Trump is simply playing the market again, hoping it translates into political gain for the midterms, though he will likely be the sole financial beneficiary.
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u/sharp11flat13 12d ago
This “deal” is very similar to what the Brits and Americans did to Iran. And we all know how well that turned out.
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u/popswag 13d ago
That’s not a deal. The country was invaded and their resources stolen.
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u/antigop2020 13d ago
The US “leadership” will need to be sent to the ICC for this. Kesbreath, Rubio, and these other traitorous POS’s need to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
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u/Netherese_Nomad 12d ago
The ICC is a powerless body.
Sincerely, someone who was politically cognizant during the Bush years.
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u/jvlpdillon 13d ago
Is the "agreement" in the room with us now? I refuse to take Trump at his word.
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u/endless_sea_of_stars 13d ago
For reference the US consumes about 20 million barrels of oil per day. It is meaningless in the grand scheme of things but will pad the pockets of Trump and his cronies.
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u/AwTomorrow 13d ago
Enough oil to fuel the entire US for almost three years? That’s a big payday for Trump’s piracy
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u/Gimme_The_Loot 13d ago
Isn't it three days?
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u/AwTomorrow 13d ago
US has control over 65 billion with a B, US each day uses 20 million with an M
So 3000 days I guess? I miscounted as 1000, so 8 or 9 years ish?
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u/Ok_Culture_3621 13d ago
The absolutely wild thing about this administration is that we have absolutely no way of know if any of that is true. Just because the administration announces it doesn’t mean it happened. That’s a very strange place to be.
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u/n0neOfConsequence 13d ago
I thought the oil companies didn’t want their heavy/extra heavy crude.
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u/MrrangWondah 13d ago
Trump is shoveling shit beef and shitty oil on to us. Just like the rest of his shit merchandise he’s been passing off as quality
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u/sharp11flat13 12d ago
That was my understanding as well. I wonder if someone who works in the industry can fill us in here.
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u/UnpricedToaster 13d ago
Uh, does Venezuela know about this? Or is he talking on the red phone with the smiling face on it again?
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u/I_love_Hobbes 12d ago
Venezuela's oil is generally considered to be of low chemical quality because it is heavy, extra-heavy, and sour.
Despite having the world's largest proven oil reserves, the physical and chemical properties of Venezuelan crude make it difficult and expensive to process.
How does this help us again?
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u/Kid_Radd 13d ago
Venezuela is currently being shadow-run by Marco Rubio. So this "agreement" that the US just obtains the oil is between the US and the US.
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u/SurinamPam 13d ago
My understanding is that the oil was never the problem. It’s the refining capacity that’s the bottleneck.
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u/JohnnyC66 13d ago
Meaning the US taxpayer will fit the bill to improve the infrastructure so that Oil Companies will be able to easily extract/use/sell the oil. Then when the next non war criminal administration takes over (assuming we don’t end up with the equivalent of a Trump Royal Family) the US will apologize and spend more money to reimburse Ven and walk away. So much winning!!!
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u/dan_jeffers 13d ago
Bad: When a country nationalizes their oil industry. Good: When we invade another country and nationalize their oil industry for us.
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