The White House has confirmed that it has granted a 100-year concession to the private company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) to exploit a portion of Venezuela’s oil reserves and has provided new details about the agreement announced last week, according to EFE, as noted by Agerpres.
Under the agreement between President Donald Trump’s administration and the government of Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez, NABEP will have rights for a century to drill 17 oil fields containing approximately 65 billion barrels of crude oil, equivalent to nearly one-fifth of Venezuela’s reserves.
According to the White House, the U.S. Department of Defense will hold a 35% stake in NABEP’s parent company.
Meanwhile, the State Department will have the right to purchase, at cost, 20% of the extracted oil to replenish U.S. strategic reserves.
NABEP, a company led by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, claims to be Venezuela’s second-largest crude oil producer, with a production rate of over 200,000 barrels per day.
Betancourt has been investigated in Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S. for alleged money laundering and tax fraud in transactions involving the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, charges he denies.
The company announced that, with the new agreement, it aims to increase its production until it exceeds one million barrels per day.
The Trump administration, which last week called the agreement “historic,” argues that it will increase oil production and lower gasoline prices in the U.S., which have been driven up by the conflict with Iran—a factor that threatens to hurt Republicans in the November midterm elections.
According to the White House, NABEP will invest approximately $100 billion to restore Venezuela’s deteriorated oil infrastructure and will pay the Venezuelan authorities, approximately $200 billion in taxes over the next 25 years.
In addition, the U.S. government will have the right to veto appointments to the NABEP board of directors.
Since the U.S. captured and removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power in January, Washington has overseen the government now led by Rodriguez and has restored diplomatic relations with Caracas.
The oil agreement has raised suspicions among those who believe the Trump administration is not truly interested in promoting a democratic transition in Venezuela, even though this was one of the arguments used to justify the ouster of President Maduro.
source – AGERPRES
