The US Just Elbowed China and Russia Out of Venezuela’s Oil Patch
AT A GLANCE
- U.S. firm NABEP takes control of 17 Venezuelan oil projects, 14 of them brand new
- Five of those fields were run by Chinese companies, one by a Russian firm
- Washington secures a 35% stake and first right to buy 80% of NABEP’s output
- Comes days after Trump claimed access to 64 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves
One deal just handed the U.S. a direct hand in who pumps and sells Venezuela’s oil.
North American Blue Energy Partners, once owned by U.S. oil tycoon Harry Sargeant, is taking over oilfields that Chinese and Russian companies have run for years. The move is part of a wider production deal President Trump struck with Venezuela.
KEY DETAILS
NABEP, now controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, picks up 14 newly granted contracts on top of three it already held. Five of those fields were operated by Chinese firms, including two by the sanctioned China Concord Resources, plus Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corp. One field was run by a Russian company. Two others trace back to associates of jailed Maduro ally Alex Saab, and another to a nephew of Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife.
Washington gets a 35% stake in NABEP, preferential access to 20% of its output at cost, and first refusal on the rest. The board must be majority American, with the U.S. holding veto power.
WHY IT MATTERS
Oil that once flowed to China is now headed for U.S. refineries in Texas and Louisiana. For traders, this is a real shift in global crude flows, not just political theater.
Talks continue between Venezuela’s interim leaders and the 2015 National Assembly, a move that could reshape the legal path for reviving the country’s oil sector.
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Source: Reuters
