Venezuela signed multiple oil cooperation agreements with the United States on Wednesday after acting President Delcy Rodriguez met visiting U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in Caracas.
The signing ceremony took place during Wright's visit, who arrived in Caracas on Tuesday.
The agreements cover oil expansion projects between the Venezuelan government and multinational companies, including U.S.-based Chevron.
Expanding operations into new oil exploration areas is part of the Chevron-related projects. The enhancements underpin joint venture plans to invest over seven billion U.S. dollars in Venezuela over the next five years, more than doubling production to approximately 600,000 barrels a day compared with 2026, the company said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the U.S. has reached an oil deal with Venezuela, securing "majority control" over more than 65 billion barrels of the country's proven oil reserves.
Rodriguez stated that the oil deal with the United States is set for a 25-year term, with the aim of boosting crude output to 1.5 million barrels a day while reaffirming the country's control over its natural resources.
On Jan 3, U.S. military forces launched a large-scale strike against Venezuela and forcibly seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife before transporting them to New York.
On Jan 29, Rodriguez announced the approval of a partial reform of the country's hydrocarbons law to allow greater private participation in the oil sector.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves.
Venezuela, US ink oil cooperation agreements
Venezuela, US ink oil cooperation agreements
Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station delivered a live-broadcast class designated to students in China's special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao on Wednesday, marking the fifth Tiangong Class session.
Shenzhou-23 commander Zhu Yangzhu, spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying conducted the class, which features in-orbit demonstrations and a question-and-answer session.
Lai is the first payload specialist from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
The astronauts introduced the station's three-module layout and demonstrated how a gyroscope maintains its direction in microgravity. They also showed daily life aboard the station, including baking a cake in the space kitchen, exercising on a treadmill and wringing out a wet towel.
Lai introduced rice, noodles and bread as staple foods available to the crew, and showed plants growing in the station's plant-growing facility, including sweet potato leaves, mint, several varieties of lettuce and kale.
Other demonstrations included a bauhinia flower -- Hong Kong's floral emblem -- floating in the microgravity environment, and a water-ball ping-pong demonstration. The crew also introduced the Tianyun camera, a space station instrument developed with input from a Hong Kong research team.
In the question-and-answer session, students asked about cuisine in orbit, astronaut training, artificial intelligence applications aboard the station, silkworm rearing and biology experiments, preparations for spacewalks and career choices.
The event was jointly organized by the governments of the Hong Kong SAR and the Macao Macao SAR, along with the China Manned Space Agency. More than 200 primary and secondary school students from the two regions attended the ground class at Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College in Hong Kong, Lai's alma mater.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and officials from both regions also attended the session. At the close of the event, Lee spoke with Lai in a live link, while the crew encouraged young people in Hong Kong and Macao to pursue scientific exploration.
The session was broadcast live to primary and secondary schools across both regions, as well as through official online platforms and local broadcasters.
Chinese astronauts give Hong Kong, Macao students live lesson from orbit
