{"text":[[{"start":16.4,"text":"Donald Trump has said the US has struck a deal to gain majority control of more than 65bn barrels of oil in Venezuela."}],[{"start":24.604,"text":"The US president described the agreement between US secretary of state Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez as “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” on Truth Social on Friday night."}],[{"start":39.88,"text":"“This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity,” Trump said on his social media platform."}],[{"start":59.84,"text":"“This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States!”"}],[{"start":66.48,"text":"A White House official claimed the US had gained 55 per cent of the “effective output of a new private joint venture that will be the second-largest private oil company by reserves in the world” after Saudi Aramco."}],[{"start":78.92,"text":"The official said the joint project of the US government and an “experienced private operator in Venezuela” would have 100-year concessions for oilfields totalling 63bn barrels of proven reserves."}],[{"start":90.76,"text":"Rubio said the deal would bring “nearly $100bn in private investment” to Venezuela and “drive the reconstruction” of its economy."}],[{"start":99.64,"text":"The announcement of the oil deal comes as the Trump administration faces growing public frustration over rising petrol and diesel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections to decide control of Congress."}],[{"start":111.48,"text":"The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":115.32,"text":"One source close to the Venezuelan government said “a major agreement has been reached establishing the operational management framework for 17-21 oilfields, which involves a significant investment in drilling rigs to boost oil production”."}],[{"start":129.06,"text":"In January, the US captured former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a night-time military raid in Caracas. They are set to go on trial next year in Manhattan federal court on drug trafficking charges. Former vice-president Rodríguez became interim president after Maduro’s removal."}],[{"start":146.48,"text":"“This initiative is the result of strengthening relations between Venezuela and the United States, and it will facilitate a significant flow of investment aimed at recovering and reconstructing strategic infrastructure for the development of our hydrocarbons industry,” Rodríguez said."}],[{"start":162.16,"text":"Since Maduro’s arrest, Washington has lifted sanctions enabling US companies to invest in Venezuela’s oil sector. Venezuelan authorities in January also passed a hydrocarbons law that drastically weakens state oil firm PDVSA and allows private companies to operate wells directly."}],[{"start":179.16,"text":"The Trump administration has repeatedly said that stabilising Venezuela’s economy is the first part of a three-phase plan for a political transition in the South American country, which has been under revolutionary socialist rule since Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998."}],[{"start":195.84,"text":"Oil majors Repsol, Eni and Shell have made agreements with Venezuela’s government this year, while Chevron, which has operated in Venezuela for a century, increased its stakes in its joint ventures with PDVSA in April."}],[{"start":208.16,"text":"Any agreement is likely to be heavily criticised by the Venezuelan opposition, which has been urging the US to force the authorities to hold new elections in the country. Depending on the terms of any agreement, it could also raise questions about the legitimacy of Rodríguez."}],[{"start":222.36,"text":"Writing on X, Ricardo Hausmann, a former planning minister in Venezuela and now a professor at Harvard, said any agreement to pass control of reserves to the US would be “a fiasco for all involved” because the Venezuelan government “has no legitimacy to strike this unconstitutional deal”."}],[{"start":239.28,"text":"Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist based in the US, said that “handing over Venezuela’s oil wealth to the US contravenes the constitution and is not in the interest of the Venezuelan people — much more when it is done at gunpoint”. He said the national assembly should block “this predatory deal”."}],[{"start":256,"text":"Any deal over Venezuela’s oil reserves is also likely to be picked up as an issue by Democrats, who have promised to probe the Trump administration’s dealings with the country should they win control of one or both houses of Congress in the midterm elections."}],[{"start":269.16,"text":"The 65bn barrels of oil that the Trump administration says it will gain majority control over amount to more than a fifth of Venezuela’s total oil reserves, which the country has estimated at just over 300bn barrels. It is more than triple the almost 20bn proven reserves reported by ExxonMobil, the largest US oil company."}],[{"start":291.92,"text":"Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, equivalent to about 17 per cent of global supply and more than either Saudi Arabia or the US."}],[{"start":301.4,"text":"Alejandro Terán, director of the Texas-based Latin American Association of Oil Entrepreneurs, said the deal was “about investing in operating capital” in the Orinoco oil belt to reach production of more than 2mn barrels a day."}],[{"start":316.52,"text":"“The way to do that is through Productive Participation Contracts,” Terán said."}],[{"start":321.76,"text":"One Venezuelan energy executive said local companies had been sidelined in the flurry of deals made with US firms."}],[{"start":328.64,"text":"“Most of the oil deals are being struck with American companies, and that has been a constant throughout the country’s oil history,” the businessman said."}],[{"start":336.52,"text":"“Just look at us; we play baseball and scoff down hot dogs and burgers.”"}],[{"start":347.24,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787965099_6512.mp3"}