US Taps Into Venezuela Oil Reserves with $100 Billion Investment

The White House has revealed more details about President Donald Trump's plan to tap into Venezuela's oil reserves. The deal, announced last week, will give the U.S. a stake in Venezuela's vast oil reserves and create a private company as a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP). NABEP is owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt and has been involved in the country's oil industry for over 15 years.

The deal will give the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital a 35% ownership stake in the company, while the U.S. will also be guaranteed a right to purchase 20% of the output at cost. The agreement was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez has given NABEP 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with proven reserves of 65 billion barrels. Many of those fields were previously owned by Russian or Chinese firms, the White House said. Betancourt's company has agreed to put up $100 billion in new oil infrastructure investments.

Trump has been pushing to boost oil production in Venezuela since the January military mission that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro on federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. The deal is seen as a chance to modernize Venezuela's oil industry and accelerate its revival, but critics have raised concerns about the potential risks and the fact that future administrations could challenge the agreement.