White House unveils more details of Trump’s Venezuela oil deal

Venezuela’s interim president gives new US company 100-year rights to more than 17 oil fields.The White House has revealed new details of United States President Donald Trump’s push to gain access to Venezuela’s oil industry, with a deal that will give the Pentagon a stake in roughly one-fifth of the country’s vast oil reserves.According to a fact sheet released by the Trump administration late on Monday, the US is creating a private joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. NABEP is already the second-largest operator in Venezuela, behind Chevron.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump announces ‘biggest oil deal in world history’ with Venezuelalist 2 of 3Delcy Rodriguez says Venezuela ‘retains sovereignty’ despite US oil deallist 3 of 3Trump says US will refill its petroleum reserves using Venezuelan oilend of listIn a statement, Betancourt said Venezuela is “blessed with an abundance of natural resources, hardworking people and untapped potential”, adding that the deal will “unleash that potential to the great benefit of both Venezuelans and Americans”.Betancourt’s company has agreed to put up $100bn in new oil infrastructure investments.The deal will give the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital a 35 percent ownership stake in the company, the White House disclosed. The US will also be guaranteed a right to buy 20 percent of the output at cost, orchestrated through the State Department.The agreement, which the White House said secures “our energy dominance for the next century”, was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez, in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 30, 2026 [Efrain Gonzalez/AFP]Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez is giving the company 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with proven reserves of 65 billion barrels. Many of those fields were previously owned by Russian or Chinese firms, the White House said.