New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- President Donald Trump's energy ambitions don't stop at U.S. borders.

His Venezuelan oil deal, under which the U.S. Department of Defense holds a 35% equity stake in a company that will develop 17 Venezuelan oilfields, is an effort to control energy resources in the Western Hemisphere. Under the agreement, the U.S. is guaranteed at least 20% of output from those fields "at production cost." In recent weeks, Trump has started saying the deal will give the U.S. access to 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.

Aside from the economic viability of those resources (many pieces would need to fall in place, from electricity grid repairs, to better governance and institutional capacity) and the doubtful l...