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Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly (center, back row), presides over a regular parliamentary session in Caracas, Venezuela, on the 1st local time. / EPA, Yonhap

The Venezuelan parliament has approved an oil agreement reached between interim President Delcy Rodríguez and U.S. President Donald Trump.  

According to Reuters on the 1st local time, Venezuela's parliament voted that day to pass the pact granting the U.S. access to roughly one-fifth of the nation's oil reserves.  Under the agreement, Venezuelan private oil firm North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) secures a 100-year lease for 17 oil fields in the country.  

The total oil reserves in these fields stand at approximately 65 billion barrels, exceeding the total proven U.S. reserves of about 46 billion barrels.  The U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Strategic Capital will acquire a 35% stake in NABEP and secure 20% of the extracted oil at production cost for supply to U.S. refineries.  

The acquisition covers fields where Chinese and Russian enterprises exert influence, which is expected to draw pushback.  

A U.S. administration official stated that U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is scheduled to sign the agreement with the private enterprise in Venezuela on the 2nd.  The official added that U.S. oil major Chevron plans to announce expansion plans for its operations in Venezuela.  

                                                                                                          Kim Hyun-min