US secures 35% stake in Venezuelan firm NABEP under 50-year deal

Venezuelan billionaire Alejandro Betancourt has become the Donald Trump administration’s key partner in the country’s oil sector.

According to a report by The Washington Post, Betancourt is building an energy empire by securing rights to oilfields holding 63.7 billion barrels in reserves with Washington’s backing.

In return for the cooperation, the US is expected to acquire a stake in the billionaire’s company and obtain a portion of the extracted crude at a discounted price.

Under the terms of the 50-year agreement reviewed by the newspaper, the US administration will take over a 35% stake in Betancourt’s company, North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), virtually free of charge.

The businessman has also pledged to sell 20% of the extracted oil to Washington at $30 per barrel, a price lower than one-third of its current market value.

The Venezuelan state, meanwhile, will receive royalty revenues ranging from 16% to 40% of production, depending on the location and type of the field.

Described as a controversial figure in the Venezuelan business world, Betancourt worked in the past with the government of Hugo Chavez supporters and was among the suspects in a lawsuit involving alleged embezzlement of public funds.

While Swiss and Spanish authorities continue to investigate the billionaire over suspected money laundering, Betancourt denies the wrongdoing allegations against him.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, a former Trump administration official responsible for contacts with Venezuela’s new leadership, justified the choice of Betancourt by citing the businessman’s efficiency and his track record of successfully implementing oil projects.

Having raised daily oil production from 18,000 barrels to roughly 223,000 barrels since his return to Venezuela at the end of 2023, Betancourt aims to bring this figure to 275,000 barrels by the end of the year and to 350,000 barrels next year.

Seeking to expand his business volume, the billionaire plans to channel nearly all of his cash flow, which is expected to exceed $5 billion in 2026, into new fields.

Experts, on the other hand, view the agreement’s future with scepticism, pointing out that operating new fields in the Orinoco oil belt will require massive investments and years of work.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado criticised the deal over a lack of transparency, announcing that the terms could be reviewed if she comes to power.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez supported the agreement, describing the process as one of the pillars of her interim government.

In addition, Bloomberg reported in early September that a $100 billion plan between the US and Venezuela to boost oil production was jeopardised by financing uncertainties.

The report noted that Washington had not clarified who would provide these funds to repair the country’s devastated oil infrastructure or under what terms.

US President Donald Trump announced on 29 August that Washington had reached an agreement to secure control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil through a private sector partnership.

Trump stated that the agreement would more than double US oil reserves, increase global oil supply, and lower petrol prices in the long run.

Identifying NABEP as the project’s primary private operator, Bloomberg noted that the company lacked sufficient resources to finance an operation of this scale on its own.

The agency also pointed out that a portion of the declared oil reserves lacked credible confirmation, that repairing the infrastructure would require high costs and many years, and that completing the project before Trump’s presidential term ends in January 2029 appeared difficult.

The Financial Times also reported that despite plans by the Trump administration and Caracas, Venezuela faced a shortage of the qualified labour needed to revive the oil sector and boost production.