The U.S. doesn’t have a state-owned oil giant. But in Venezuela, the federal government will control a company with the world’s 2nd largest reserves

Many of the world’s top oil countries have state-run national champions, such as Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, Russia’s Rosneft, the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Brazil’s Petrobras, and Mexico’s Pemex.

But the U.S., which is the world’s biggest oil producer, doesn’t have one, leaving the task of pumping crude to private-sector giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron as well as the multitude of wildcatters across the Permian Basin.

The Trump administration’s deal for 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, however, will give the federal government a stake in a new joint venture.

The country’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, has granted a private company a 100-year lease for prime oil fields, a U.S. official said, according to reports.

The federal government will control 55% of the company’s effective output via equity ownership and oil production. A private Venezuelan operator will have the remaining share. The U.S. official said the company will be the world’s second-largest corporate holder of proven reserves after........

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