US Hands Venezuela's Vast Oil Prize to Private Firm Amid Concerns

Venezuela's vast oil reserves have been a subject of interest for years, and recently, Washington handed a 100-year lease on tens of billions of barrels to North American Blue Energy Partners, a private company with no prior experience in developing such large fields. The deal includes an equity stake for the US government and allows it to purchase 20% of the oil at cost, below market price.

The total prize is estimated to be around 65 billion barrels, but there are questions surrounding the competitive-bidding requirements and constitutional issues. Chevron, on the other hand, has been working separately in Venezuela for decades, with operations dating back over a century. The company has increased production from 40,000 to 250,000 barrels per day and expects full debt recovery by early 2027.

Bloomberg Economics' Chris Kennedy warned that the deal structure could rekindle nationalist and anti-American sentiment in Venezuela, raising questions about the durability of a 100-year lease under a future elected government. Chevron's CEO Mike Wirth emphasized contractual protections, but those provisions face a hostile-precedent problem.