Pentagon to Gain Stake in Venezuela Oil Reserves Under Trump Deal

The White House has released more details about President Trump's deal to tap into Venezuela's oil industry. The agreement, announced by Trump last week as 'the biggest oil deal in history,' will give the Pentagon a stake over roughly a fifth of the country's vast oil reserves.

As part of the deal, the U.S. is creating a private company as a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a Venezuelan businessman-owned firm that already operates 17 oil fields in Venezuela. The deal will give the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital a 35% ownership stake in the company.

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez is giving NABEP 100-year rights over the 17 oil fields, which have proven reserves of 65 billion barrels. Many of those fields were previously owned by Russian or Chinese firms, the White House said.