Under terms being discussed, the U.S. would acquire long-term contracts for a third of Venezuelan oil reserves, creating access to roughly 90 billion barrels of crude, according to two people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details.
A list shared with The Washington Post noted 17 oil fields in which the U.S. would take a stake. Several of the fields lack any infrastructure or access to transport hubs to treat and move the crude. Those where such infrastructure does exist have fallen victim to years of neglect and theft or machinery.
Pumping oil from the fields would require investments of many billions of dollars and costly security plans to protect oil workers and production facilities in lawless and violent regions.
