WASHINGTON – The White House formally introduced a landmark partnership with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) on Monday, advancing former President Donald Trump’s policy initiative to unlock and develop Venezuela’s underutilized oil industry. The agreement, which establishes a new joint venture between the U.S. and the Venezuelan-led energy firm, grants the U.S. Pentagon a direct ownership stake in a holdings controlling roughly one-fifth of the South American nation’s massive proven oil reserves.
The disclosure comes several days after Trump announced what he billed as “the biggest oil deal in history,” with new details released publicly Monday evening clarifying key terms of the sweeping agreement that had been withheld by the White House since the initial announcement. NABEP, which is owned by prominent Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, already operates as the second-largest oil producer in Venezuela, trailing only U.S.-headquartered Chevron.
Under the terms of the deal, Venezuela’s interim government led by acting President Delcy Rodríguez has granted the new joint venture 100-year development rights to 17 oil fields holding 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. According to White House documentation, the majority of these fields were previously controlled by energy firms based in Russia and China.
The agreement allocates a 35% ownership stake in the new joint venture to the U.S. Department of Defense, while the U.S. State Department has secured a guarantee to purchase 20% of all oil output from the fields at production cost. Betancourt’s NABEP has committed to investing $100 billion to build and upgrade critical oil extraction and transportation infrastructure across the concession area.
The Trump administration’s push for this deal follows a January military operation that resulted in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on federal charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking, clearing a major political hurdle for the initiative to move forward.
Administration officials have framed the agreement as a financially risk-free arrangement for U.S. taxpayers, noting that the deal comes at “zero cost” to the federal government. The U.S. will also hold veto power over all board appointments, and a majority of the joint venture’s board members will be U.S. citizens.
“The agreement with NABEP is governed by U.S. law and falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of U.S. courts, and NABEP will retain independent, reputable U.S.-based auditors, legal counsel and strategic advisers,” the White House outlined in an official fact sheet published alongside the new details.
Despite the administration’s optimistic framing, energy and policy analysts have expressed widespread skepticism that the deal will deliver on its near-term promises, noting that it will likely take years of sustained investment and development to meaningfully restart and scale oil production in the concession. Even so, Trump and his senior advisors argue that the deal lays the groundwork to establish a major new oil producing power in the Western Hemisphere.
Former U.S. government energy policy advisors have also warned that the agreement carries significant long-term political risk. Changes in administration in either Venezuela or the United States could lead to future legal or political challenges to the deal’s legitimacy and terms, creating uncertainty for investors and stakeholders.