The agreement provides exceptional commercial and governance rights, but it does not transfer Venezuela’s sovereign ownership of its reserves.
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
President Donald Trump has said the United States will take “all” the oil covered by a new agreement with Venezuela, describing 65 billion barrels of reserves as previously dormant value. The detailed terms, however, establish preferential access and corporate influence rather than outright American ownership of every barrel.
Venezuela’s interim authorities granted North American Blue Energy Partners 100-year concessions covering 17 oil fields. The company, known as NABEP, is controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt and currently produces an estimated 170,000 to 200,000 barrels per day.
Under the agreement, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital receives a 35 percent interest in NABEP’s corporate parent at no direct cost to the US government. Washington can veto board appointments, a majority of directors must be American citizens and disputes involving the US agreement will fall under American law and courts.
The State Department is guaranteed the right to purchase 20 percent of production at cost, partly to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and supply sensitive government uses. It also receives the right of first refusal over the remaining 80 percent. This gives Washington the opportunity to purchase all output before it is offered elsewhere, but does not require the United States to buy it or legally convert Venezuelan reserves into US territory.
NABEP has pledged to invest as much as $100 billion in damaged and underperforming infrastructure. The White House estimates that Venezuela could receive approximately $200 billion in royalties and taxes during the first 25 years. Delivering those projections will require sustained investment, legal stability and years of reconstruction across fields that currently produce well below their potential.
Several major oil companies remain cautious. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips withdrew after Venezuela nationalized their assets in 2007 and continue to demand stronger contractual guarantees. Lawmakers in Washington are also seeking information about the legal basis of an arrangement negotiated without congressional participation, while future governments in either country could challenge its duration and conditions.
Beyond energy, the deal marks an explicit geopolitical shift. Many of the fields were previously connected to Russian or Chinese companies, and the White House has presented their transfer as a restoration of the Monroe Doctrine. Trump’s language portrays the agreement as possession, but its real significance lies in control over production, purchasing priority and the displacement of rival powers from the hemisphere’s largest petroleum reserves.
Detrás de cada dato, la intención. / Behind every data point, the intention.