US firm to take over Chinese and Russian oilfields in Venezuela

US oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) is set to take over several oilfields previously controlled by multiple Chinese companies and a Russian firm.

Two US officials told Reuters that the takeover forms part of the comprehensive oil production agreement announced with Venezuela by President Donald Trump.

According to the officials, the projects in question are among 14 contracts newly awarded to US-backed North American Blue Energy Partners.

NABEP was previously owned by US oil tycoon Harry Sargeant and is currently controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt.

In a statement confirming the agreement, Betancourt said:

“Venezuela has abundant natural resources, hard-working people, and untapped potential. This transaction will unlock that potential to the great benefit of both Venezuelans and Americans.”

NABEP stated that it will hold operational control of the enterprise, while the US government will hold a 35% stake in the company and retain “preferential access” to 20% of the firm’s production at cost.

The White House stated that NABEP also granted the US Department of State a right of first refusal to purchase the remaining 80% of its production.

Washington secures say in Venezuelan oil output and sales

Last week, Trump announced that the US had secured access to approximately 64 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves through a partnership established with the private sector.

The arrangement provides US companies with a foothold in several of Venezuela’s strategically critical oil assets, sidelining the interests of China and Russia, which have long played a prominent role in the country’s energy sector.

Furthermore, under this framework—through which the Trump administration aims to reshape the country’s oil industry and align its vast reserves with US economic and geopolitical interests—Washington is granted a direct role in deciding who will produce and sell Venezuela’s oil.

The White House added that the US will also hold veto power over NABEP’s board of directors and executives, and has mandated that a majority of the board members must be US citizens.

NABEP is expected to control a total of 17 projects in Venezuela, developing them to ultimately supply oil to the US.

Officials stated that 14 of these projects are to be newly awarded by the Venezuelan government.

Oil destined for China redirected to the US

Officials said that five of the 14 fields were operated by Chinese companies under a model promoted by Nicolas Maduro, while one was previously operated by a Russian firm.

Two of the projects were operated by China Concord Resources, which was sanctioned by the US in 2019 over activities related to Iran.

Officials noted that one project was operated by Sinopec and another by China National Petroleum Corp.

“We are not only creating new opportunities to benefit the US government and US operators, but we are also opening the US as the market for this oil that was previously sent to China,” an official said.

Officials stated that two other projects were operated by affiliates of Alex Saab, a former close aide to Maduro who is currently detained in the US.

Officials noted that another oilfield was linked to a nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores.

Trump recognises 2015 Assembly as legitimate

Speaking to reporters early on Monday, Trump said the US had seized “millions and millions of barrels of oil” that are currently being shipped to refineries in Texas, Louisiana, and other locations.

Trump is scheduled to meet with oil and gas retailers and refining officials today (1 September).

Officials stated that discussions between Venezuela’s interim authorities and representatives of the 2015 National Assembly are intended to restore constitutional order to some degree and address legal matters surrounding the country’s transition process.

The Trump administration views the 2015 Assembly as the last Venezuelan legislature elected and operating under the country’s constitution, despite its lack of formal governing authority.

One official noted that reaching an agreement with the 2015 National Assembly could provide a constitutional and legal foundation for a broader transition process, including economic decisions such as the revival of Venezuela’s oil industry.

Backlash grows against Caracas

Meanwhile, backlash is mounting against the interim administration of Delcy Rodriguez over the oil agreement with the US.

Writing for Orinoco Tribune, journalist and political scientist William Serafino argues that the agreement represents a return to the “humiliating concession model” that defined Washington-Caracas energy relations for a third of the 20th century, namely leasing oilfields in exchange for corporate tax revenues.

Viewing 28 August 2026, the date the agreement was announced, as a day that will be interpreted as “the date Venezuela returned to 1908”, Serafino recalled that in that year, Juan Vicente Gomez, having defeated Cipriano Castro, laid the foundations of the modern state by pursuing a “feudal-oil-based open-door” doctrine toward British and later US companies.

Contending that the deal will also be remembered as a “breaking point marked by elites who traded politics and republican vision for subservience to a power-obsessed emperor”, the author pointed out that just as Gomez was encouraged and supported by Washington, which rejoiced at the application of the “Monroe Doctrine”, Rodriguez is viewed similarly by the great northern neighbour.

Serafino continued:

“This agreement can rightfully be described as historic; Rodriguez and Trump are in complete agreement on this point. But this is not because of the technical and financial aspects of the deal; politically, it represents a bitter admission of the reality that Venezuela’s ruling elites have nothing left to offer the nation other than an oil trade profitable for the US. This admission is masked by the consolation that revenue generated from extracted barrels will suffice to save us from the ruin wrought by sanctions and economic mismanagement.”

Stating that the process reveals the “failure of the elites”, Serafino wrote that the distinction between rivals and adversaries across the political spectrum has now “come to depend on who is close to Trump, whom they support, and with whom they negotiate.”

The author noted: “In this scenario obscured by technical jargon, the future of the Bolivarian Republic is being determined in a bitter transition that passes through an inverted pyramid of legitimacy, turning the head of the White House into the rector of the national horizon.”

Believing that “the bitter reality of a nation that has lost control of its own destiny” lies concealed within “the deep void left behind by technical narratives”, Serafino said this destiny is now determined “in the English language and in the metropolis of the Trump empire”, concluding his article:

“Perhaps accepting reality as it is may be the first step toward confronting a future full of questions and doubts, impossible to resolve through partisan slogans, unfulfilled promises, or narratives that invalidate history and its lessons.”