White House Pushes Corporate-Military Control Over Venezuelan Oil with North American Blue Energy Partners Deal
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The Trump administration has announced a controversial joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners, handing the Pentagon a massive 35% stake in Venezuelan oil fields. Lawmakers and critics are demanding answers as U.S. military and corporate interests tighten their grip on Venezuela’s resources.
On Monday, the White House revealed its latest move to expand U.S. imperial reach by forming a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) to exploit 17 oil fields in Venezuela. This deal outrageously grants the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital a 35% ownership share, further entangling military interests with private profit. The oil fields, containing an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, will be operated by NABEP, a company owned by Venezuelan oligarch Alejandro Betancourt—now the second-largest oil operator in the country after Chevron, another corporate giant with a history of exploiting global resources.
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, under pressure from foreign interests, authorized a shocking 100-year lease for these fields, many of which were previously under the control of Russian or Chinese firms. The agreement gives the U.S. government the right to buy 20% of the oil output at cost, and hands the Pentagon veto power over board appointments, ensuring U.S. dominance. Most board members are to be U.S. citizens, further eroding Venezuelan sovereignty.
Betancourt, representing entrenched corporate interests, claimed the partnership would unlock Venezuela’s natural-resource potential and benefit both nations. He boasted of employing over 5,000 staff and contractors and promised $100 billion in new oil-infrastructure projects—an investment that will likely benefit elites and foreign shareholders far more than ordinary Venezuelans. The deal was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both known for their hawkish, interventionist stances.
Critics immediately condemned the deal for its political risks and the long, uncertain timeline to revive Venezuela’s battered oil sector. Former energy advisers and members of Congress raised alarms about the use of U.S. military resources to prop up a private venture, demanding a thorough legal justification. Rep. Rick Crawford and Sen. Jack Reed both called for transparency, with Reed denouncing the arrangement as an “abuse of power and taxpayer dollars.”
President Trump, ever the mouthpiece for corporate interests, admitted that any impact on U.S. gasoline prices would not be immediate, suggesting a two-year wait for potential benefits. He also claimed the agreement would help replenish strategic petroleum reserves and provide heavy oil for products such as asphalt—ignoring the environmental and social costs of such extraction.
The announcement comes ahead of a closed-door meeting with oil refiners and senior officials, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, to discuss expanding refining capacity. This is all happening as fuel prices rise due to the conflict in Iran, yet the administration’s answer is to double down on fossil fuels and foreign intervention rather than invest in sustainable alternatives.