US Seizes Control of One-Fifth of Venezuela's Oil Reserves

The United States has reached an agreement with Venezuela that would give US interests control over approximately 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves, or more than one-fifth of the country's total.

The deal, presented by the White House as 'the biggest oil deal in world history,' gives North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a Barbados-based company, 100-year concessions covering 17 oil fields containing the aforementioned reserves.

NABEP has transferred 35 percent of its equity stake to the Office of Strategic Capital within the US Department of War, while the US State Department receives the right to purchase 20 percent of the oil produced at production cost, as well as a right of first refusal over the remaining output.

Venezuela's former oil minister Rafael Ramírez has questioned the economics of the agreement, arguing that projected revenues of approximately $200 billion would amount to a royalty rate of only about 3.7 percent.