Washington: US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the United States intends to use its newly acquired control over Venezuelan oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The SPR serves as the nation's emergency crude oil supply and is stored in underground salt caverns located in Texas and Louisiana.

According to Anadolu Agency, Trump made this announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, stating that the move will rectify the depletion of the reserves, which he attributed to former President Joe Biden. Trump described the recent deal with Venezuela as a 'gift' to the American people and indicated that the process of refilling the reserves would begin soon.

The current SPR inventory is at 289.7 million barrels as of August 21, significantly lower than its total authorized capacity of 714 million barrels. The reserve faced its largest-ever drawdown in 2022 when the previous administration released 1 million barrels per day over six months to mitigate rising oil prices, leading to a 45% reduction in the stockpile by the end of 2023. The Department of Energy has yet to provide technical guidelines for the planned oil transfers.

The decision follows a significant agreement reached on Friday, through which Washington secured majority control over 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves. Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took office in January after a US military operation resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro, confirmed that the agreement will be effective for 25 years.

Rodriguez highlighted that the deal involves the development of 17 strategic oil fields, which is expected to attract over $100 billion in private investment and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela. The strategic focus on Venezuelan oil comes amid disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil transit point, due to the ongoing conflict with Iran, which began on February 28 and has reached a stalemate.