U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that oil from a recently struck deal with Venezuela will be used to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has been drawn down sharply in recent years to respond to global supply disruptions and high fuel prices.
Trump said in a social media post that the “topping out” process will begin shortly, describing the Venezuelan oil as a “Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States.”
It is unclear how quickly the Venezuela deal could provide oil for the reserve or deliver any near-term benefit to U.S. motorists. The agreement Trump announced on Friday is aimed at reviving Venezuela’s battered oil industry, but it will require significant investment and infrastructure work before production can rise substantially.
The reserve held about 290 million barrels as of August 21, near a 44-year low, after the United States drew down its stockpile under both the Biden and Trump administrations in response to global supply disruptions, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict with Iran.
(Reporting by David Thomas and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Daphne Psaledakis, Alexandra Hudson)