Oil deal: Details of US agreement with Venezuela released

The United States would receive extensive control over a planned Venezuelan oil venture under details released by the White House.

North American Blue Energy Partners, which describes itself as Venezuela’s second-largest oil producer, would give the US Defense Department a 35% stake in its parent company. The State Department would also gain the right to purchase 20% of the oil currently produced and future output at cost. For the remaining 80%, it would hold a right of first refusal.

Washington would receive an additional veto over board appointments, and a majority of board members would have to be US citizens. The arrangement is intended to increase Venezuelan oil production and strengthen US energy security.

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The reserves are a stock that will take decades to convert into actual production.

The company says it expects to invest nearly $100 billion in Venezuela’s oil industry and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for the Venezuelan government. Experts, however, doubt that increased production will arrive quickly because much of the country’s oil industry remains in poor condition.

“The reserves are a stock that will take decades to convert into actual production,” Tracy Shuchart, managing director of Hightower Resource Advisors, wrote on X. “The oil volumes that could actually affect gas prices in the US are unlikely to be available for another five to 15 years.”

Oil provides Venezuela’s government with its main source of revenue and foreign currency. Venezuela has an estimated 303 billion barrels of reserves, the largest total in the world, but most of the crude is heavy oil that requires specialized extraction and refining technology. Production now stands at about 1 million barrels a day, compared with nearly 3 million two decades ago. The deal comes as President Donald Trump faces domestic pressure over fuel prices, which have risen in the United States amid the Iran war.

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The oil volumes that could actually affect gas prices in the US are unlikely to be available for another five to 15 years.