U.S. oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) is set to take control of several Venezuelan oilfields previously operated by Chinese companies and a Russian firm under a sweeping production agreement announced by President Donald Trump, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the arrangement cited by Reuters.
The deal gives Washington and U.S.-backed companies a significantly larger role in Venezuela’s oil industry, potentially displacing Chinese and Russian interests that have built a substantial presence in the country’s energy sector over the past decade.
NABEP has received 14 newly granted contracts from the Venezuelan authorities, the officials said. The projects form part of a broader portfolio that will give the company control of 17 oil projects in Venezuela, which it plans to develop and ultimately use to supply crude to the United States.
The arrangement is also structured to give the U.S. government an unusual degree of influence over the company and its production.
NABEP said it will retain operating control, while the U.S. government will hold rights to a 35% stake in the company and receive preferential access to 20% of its production at cost. The White House said the State Department will also have the right of first refusal to purchase the remaining 80% of NABEP’s output.
Washington will have veto power over NABEP’s board and director appointments, while a majority of the board must be American citizens, according to the White House.
“This transaction will unleash that potential to the great benefit of both Venezuelans and Americans,” Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who now controls NABEP, said in a statement confirming the arrangement.
The agreement marks a major shift in the ownership and destination of Venezuelan crude. Five of the 14 newly awarded fields were previously operated by Chinese companies under a model promoted by then-President Nicolas Maduro, while another was previously operated by a Russian company, the U.S. officials said.
Two of the fields were operated by China Concord Resources, which was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 over Iran-related activities. Other projects were previously operated by Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corp.
Two additional projects were operated by affiliates of Alex Saab, a former close associate of Maduro who is currently in U.S. custody, while another oilfield was linked to a nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, according to the officials.
The changes underscore the geopolitical dimension of Trump’s Venezuela oil strategy. Rather than simply increasing U.S. access to Venezuelan crude, the arrangement is seen as reducing the role of Chinese and Russian companies in one of the world’s largest oil-producing countries while redirecting more Venezuelan production toward U.S. refiners.
“Not only are we opening up new opportunities for the U.S. government to benefit and for U.S. operators to benefit, we are opening up the United States as the market for this oil which was previously being sent to China,” one U.S. official said.
Trump said last week that the United States had secured access to about 64 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves through a partnership with private businesses. The scale of the arrangement places Venezuela’s enormous but underdeveloped petroleum resources at the center of the administration’s effort to reshape the country’s economy and strengthen U.S. influence over its energy exports.
Trump said Monday that the United States was taking out “millions and millions of barrels of oil” that are currently being shipped to U.S. refineries, including facilities in Texas and Louisiana. He is scheduled to meet oil and gas retailers and refiners on Tuesday.
The potential increase in Venezuelan crude supplies could also have implications for U.S. refiners. Venezuela produces heavy crude that is suited to some Gulf Coast refineries, meaning a larger and more predictable flow of Venezuelan barrels could strengthen feedstock supplies for plants configured to process heavier grades.
The arrangement, however, depends on more than access to reserves. Venezuela’s oil industry has suffered years of underinvestment, declining production capacity, deteriorating infrastructure and operational disruptions. Bringing the newly transferred fields back to higher output levels will require significant capital, equipment and technical expertise.
The political transition in Caracas could prove equally important.
U.S. officials said talks are under way between Venezuela’s interim authorities and representatives of the 2015 National Assembly, with the aim of restoring a measure of constitutional order and resolving legal questions surrounding the country’s political transition.
The Trump administration regards the 2015 assembly as the last Venezuelan legislative body elected and operating under the country’s constitution, although it does not currently hold formal governing authority.
One U.S. official said an agreement with the assembly could provide a constitutional and legal foundation for the wider transition, including economic decisions required to revive Venezuela’s oil industry.
That makes the oil arrangement both an energy and geopolitical project. However, the immediate objective for Washington is greater access to Venezuelan crude and a larger U.S. role in its production and marketing. Energy analysts believe the longer-term test hinges on the new structure’s ability to attract the investment needed to restore Venezuela’s oil output while establishing a politically and legally durable framework for control of the country’s petroleum assets.
