The oil deal between US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan authorities stipulates that Washington will receive a direct stake in the private company North American Blue Energy Partners, which will gain century-long rights to 17 Venezuelan oil fields with reserves of about 65 billion barrels — a fifth of the country's reserves. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing experts.
Under the terms of the deal, the Pentagon, expanding its authority, will help finance the project and benefit from production. The US plans to take a 35% stake and preferential rights to buy 20% of production at cost, WSJ reports.
"If this deal survives subsequent Venezuelan governments, Trump will secure strategic oil reserves for the US beyond the shale revolution," said analyst Shreiner Parker of Rystad Energy, adding that there is still much uncertainty about how these barrels will translate into actual production.
Trump and Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez agreed on the parameters of the deal in a phone call a few days before the announcement. Although the agreement was discussed at the government level, the US would become an investor in a private company rather than a counterparty to the Venezuelan state. The head of North American Blue Energy Partners, Alejandro Betancourt, with whom the US signed the agreement, has close ties to Rodríguez; he has been investigated for money laundering in Spain and Switzerland, but no charges were filed, the newspaper writes.
