WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday filled in the Venezuela oil arrangement President Trump called the biggest in history: a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners covering 17 fields and about 65 billion barrels, with the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital taking a 35 percent stake.
The fact sheet, reported Tuesday, said interim President Delcy Rodríguez is giving NABEP 100-year rights over the fields. The United States is guaranteed the right to buy 20 percent of output at cost through the State Department, plus a right of first refusal on the rest. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the U.S. side. The White House said the deal secures “our energy dominance for the next century.”
NABEP is controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt and is already the second-largest private operator in Venezuela, behind Chevron. The company has pledged up to $100 billion in new oil infrastructure. The White House said most of the incremental fields had been run by Russian or Chinese firms or by associates of former presidents Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez.
Trump said Monday that pump prices would not fall immediately and that “if it was two years, you know, that’s a short period of time.” He said Venezuelan barrels would also help refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Rodríguez has framed the arrangement as sovereignty-preserving investment. Separate company talks, including with Chevron, continue. No full contract text has been published. Al Jazeera reported the fact sheet, citing the White House, AFP, AP, and Reuters.
Sources: Al Jazeera; Reuters; The Associated Press.
