U.S. Reveals Oil Deal With Venezuela...20% of Produced Crude to Be Bought at Cost

[Financial News] The Trump administration, which claimed last month that it had struck a massive oil deal with Venezuela, has now disclosed the specific terms of the agreement. The United States plans to work with local oil companies and take over operating rights for oil fields previously held by Chinese and Russian firms, developing them over the next 100 years.
The White House made the claim in a fact sheet posted on its website on the 31st of last month, local time. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on the 28th of last month, saying, "The United States has just reached an agreement on the largest oil transaction in world history with Venezuela." He added, "U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth worked closely with Venezuela's respected interim president Delcy Rodríguez and, through partnerships with private companies, secured U.S. majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of confirmed oil reserves in Venezuela without burdening American taxpayers."
According to the fact sheet, the Venezuelan government has agreed to grant North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) new operating rights for 14 oil fields. NABEP is already developing three oil fields in Venezuela, and under the deal it has secured the right to develop a total of 17 Venezuelan oil fields for the next 100 years.
NABEP is a multinational company headquartered in Barbados in the Caribbean Sea and was founded by an American businessman. It is now led by Alejandro Betancourt, who is said to be close to Rodríguez, and is the second-largest private oil producer in Venezuela.
The estimated reserves in the 17 fields amount to 65 billion barrels, more than the roughly 46 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in the entire United States. Of the 14 fields newly secured by NABEP, five had been operated by Chinese state-owned firms including China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), while one was under Russian control. Operating rights previously held by a nephew of Cilia Flores, Venezuela's first lady who was ousted in a U.S. attack in January, and by an affiliate of former Industry Minister Alex Saab will also be transferred to NABEP.
The White House said many of these fields had previously been run by Russian or Chinese companies, or by associates of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros and former President Hugo Chávez, adding that the move would reduce the influence of both countries.
Under the agreement, the United States will hold a 35% non-managing stake in NABEP and has also secured veto power requiring a majority of the board to be U.S. citizens. The White House said, "NABEP has transferred a 35% stake to the U.S. War Department's Strategic Capital Bureau at no cost to U.S. taxpayers, which will bring hundreds of billions of dollars in value and dividends to the United States." In addition, the U.S. Department of State will have the right to buy 20% of production at cost and a preferential right to purchase the remaining 80%.
Meanwhile, NABEP said it plans to invest up to $100 billion in the development project and pay around $200 billion, or about 274 trillion won, in taxes over 25 years. It also said it aims to raise daily output from the current 200,000 barrels to more than 1 million barrels.


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