Opinion By Patricia L Johnson

President Donald J. Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela an oil deal that would “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.”

As usual, President Trump’s remarks contain more wishful thinking than actual facts.

The U.S. has Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), which is oil stored in underground caverns.  The SPR currently has a total of 290 million barrels (289,726,000 as of 08/21/26), down from 394 million barrels when President Trump took office.  The 290 million barrels is the lowest level the SPR has been at since November of 1982.

The difference between  U.S. oil reserves and the oil reserves President Trump is bragging about in his Truth Social post is that our oil is in a liquid form ready to be utilized.  The 65 billion barrels in Venezuela are untapped oil reserves meaning they are still in the ground. 

More than likely it will take years and billions of dollars for the oil in the fields in Venezuela to get into our SPR caverns.   

Not everyone in Venezuela thinks it’s a great idea for their President to offer ⅓ of their proven oil reserves to the U.S.  According to an unnamed source the U.S. has a 100-year lease and it just may take that long to drill for oil.

Earlier today I read the U.S. had removed all the mines from the Strait of Hormuz.  Is this a fact or another Administration dream?  Is the Strait of Hormuz really free of mines, or is this just another Administration fantasy designed to pull the wool over voters eyes before the mid-term elections?

The fact is right now we have the lowest SPR balance in over 40 years and we have also severely depleted U.S. missile and interceptor stockpiles.

What really is the ultimate goal of this Administration?  

© 2026 Patricia L Johnson