After the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump promised to make the South American nation "prosperous again." Eight months later, we're getting a clear picture of how the Trump administration hopes to achieve this objective: by becoming a shareholder in a Venezuelan oil company.
Under an extraordinary agreement first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, the U.S. government is taking a 35 percent passive stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the company led by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. Under the terms of the agreement, NABEP will have the opportunity to develop 17 oil fields said to hold 65 billion barrels—about one-fifth of Venezuela's total reserves—while the U.S. government would gain preferential rights to buy 20 percent of its output at cost. The State Department would also have the right of first refusal to purchase the remaining 80 percent, per the White House. The Pentagon would ultimately hold those interests, according to the Journal, although a Pentagon spokesman told Reuters that the office structuring the deal lacks authority to take equity.
