US President Donald Trump has said that Venezuela's oil reserves represented "unbelievable value" that had gone untapped before a new deal between Washington and Caracas.
"It was also a very good deal for Venezuela because you have the most powerful, the richest companies in the world going into Venezuela, where before it was just this unbelievable value that was sitting dormant," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"But we're going to be taking all of that. We're going to be taking that oil out," he said.
Trump said "all" of the crude would be directed to the US for refineries to process.
"Our refineries are specifically meant for Venezuelan heavy oil. Heavy oil is good thing, not a bad thing," he said.
"It's good for other things. You know that heavy oil is good for asphalt, roadways, all of that," he added.
Trump called the agreement "a deal that nobody's ever heard of, a deal like that. Maybe the greatest deal ever made."
He also hailed the agreement for Americans and said it would have "a tremendous impact" on prices.
"It's going to ultimately, prices are going to come down," he said.
Trump described relations with Caracas as "great" and called the relationship a "team in a sense."
"We're taking out millions and millions of barrels of oil, going to Houston, going to Louisiana, going to lots of different places in the United States and all over the world," he said.
"We're making a fortune, and they're making a fortune," he added.
Venezuela agreement
Trump's remarks followed a transaction on Friday in which Washington secured majority control over 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.
Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who assumed power in January following a US military operation that captured Nicolas Maduro, confirmed the agreement would remain in effect for 25 years.
Rodriguez said the agreement involved developing 17 strategic fields, with more than $100 billion in expected private investment and more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela.
The shift toward Venezuelan oil came as the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit point, remained stranded amid the war with Iran that began on Feb. 28 and was said to have reached a stalemate.
