U.S.-backed firm receives 100-year oil field concessions from Venezuela's interim government

Venezuela's interim government awarded U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields that hold an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, according to a statement released by the White House on Monday. The agreement gives NABEP, the country's second-largest private oil producer, the right to operate the fields and obliges the United States to purchase a guaranteed 20 % of the output at production cost, a measure the U.S. says will help replenish its strategic petroleum reserves. The White House added that NABEP has transferred a 35 % equity stake in its parent company to the U.S. Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital, which it described as potentially worth “hundreds of billions in value and dividends for the United States.” > "President Donald Trump announced Friday a deal with Caracas that would give the U.S. majority control over 65 billions, about 20%, of the South American nation's massive oil reserves," the statement said.