Venezuela Oil Deal Explained: NABEP, Pentagon Stake, Terms

The U.S.-Venezuela oil deal, announced on August 31, 2026, hands a private company, North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), rights over 17 Venezuelan oil fields with about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves — and gives the U.S. government a piece of it. The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital takes a 35% stake in NABEP, and the U.S. gets the right to buy 20% of its output at cost through the State Department, per AP. NABEP says it will invest $100 billion in new oil infrastructure. The White House calls the rights 100-year concessions; PDVSA says the contract is for 25 years, renewable.

What’s in the deal

Per AP and CBS News:

• Fields: 17 oil fields holding about 65 billion barrels — roughly a fifth of Venezuela’s proven reserves. The White House says many were previously held by Russian or Chinese firms.
• U.S. stake: 35% of NABEP for the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.
• U.S. oil: the right to buy 20% of NABEP’s output at cost via the State Department, plus first refusal on the rest, per CBS.
• Investment: “up to $100 billion” in new oil infrastructure, which the White House says comes at “no cost to the American taxpayer.”
• Signatories: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

President Trump called Venezuelan oil an “unbelievable value that was sitting dormant.”

Who is NABEP?

North American Blue Energy Partners is a private company owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. It describes itself as Venezuela’s second-largest oil producer after Chevron, pumping more than 200,000 barrels a day, with more than 5,000 employees and 10,000 contractors, per AP and CBS. It aims for more than 1 million barrels a day.

You can’t buy NABEP shares. Listed companies with business in Venezuela are covered in Venezuela oil stocks.

100 years or 25 years?

• The White House describes 100-year concessions.
• PDVSA’s head said on September 7: “PDVSA signed a contract with NABEP for 25 years that can be renewed, not a 100-year lease,” per Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
• Interim President Delcy Rodríguez also described it as a 25-year deal aiming for over 1.5 million barrels a day, per CBS.

The contract itself has not been published.

The legal doubts

• No concessions in Venezuelan law. Venezuela’s constitution does not allow oil concessions or leases; the law allows joint ventures or production contracts with PDVSA for up to 25 years, renewable, writes Luisa Palacios (Columbia, September 9).
• Production contracts, not ownership. Under the January 2026 hydrocarbons law, NABEP would hold “production participation contracts,” which give no rights over the deposit, and Article 303 of the constitution keeps the oil industry under PDVSA or another state entity, writes José Ignacio Hernández (CSIS, September 4).
• Who signed for Venezuela. CSIS notes the 180-day period for the vice president to act as interim president expired in July. Venezuelan economist José Guerra argues that under Article 150 of the constitution the contract must be approved by the National Assembly.
• No tender. Columbia flags the absence of a competitive process and the deal’s lack of transparency.

How much could Venezuela lose?

José Guerra estimates a fiscal cost of more than $6 billion: about $4.5 billion in revenue lost by awarding the 17 fields without an auction, plus about $1.7 billion from selling 20% of the oil to the U.S. at cost, per Finanzas Digital.

Will it raise Venezuela’s oil output?

Not quickly, according to CSIS. It cites independent estimates that NABEP’s three existing joint ventures could produce about 124,000 barrels a day as of late August; the deal also includes eight new-build projects. CSIS calls the 1.5 million b/d goal “long-term and optimistic,” with ports and the power grid as bottlenecks. The 20% earmarked for the U.S. would be tiny next to U.S. consumption of about 20.6 million b/d.

Chevron confirmed days later that it would invest more than $7 billion over five years in Venezuela, per FOX 10 (Chevron in Venezuela). Venezuela’s current output: Venezuela oil production.

What it means for U.S. gas prices

U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude reached 701,000 barrels a day in July 2026, the most since 2017, but gasoline still rose from about $3.02 to $4.28 a gallon in a year. Why, and who does benefit: will Venezuelan oil lower U.S. gas prices?

What is not known

• The contract’s actual terms, including the term length.
• Where the 17 fields are — CSIS notes there is no official record of their location or content.
• Whether a future Venezuelan government or U.S. administration will honor it, given the legal questions.
• How the 35% Pentagon stake will be managed and what returns it brings.

Why oil matters so much to Venezuela’s economy: 86% of exports.