Venezuela Grants US‑Backed NABEP 100‑Year Control of 17 Oil Fields, White House Says
Venezuela has awarded North American Blue Energy Partners century‑long concessions for 17 oil fields, according to the White House, while the firm prepares a large drilling push led by businessman Alejandro Betancourt. The twin moves could reshape how Venezuelan crude is produced and who benefits from it over the long term.
Venezuela is tying much of its future oil output to a single company for an entire century, in a move that could reshape the country’s energy sector and its ties to foreign investors.
According to the White House, Venezuela has granted North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) 100‑year concessions covering 17 oil fields. In a separate report, NABEP is described as a Venezuelan oil firm led by businessman Alejandro Betancourt and linked to the government of former US president Donald Trump.
That same account says NABEP plans to send more than 50 drilling rigs to Venezuela in the coming years. The aim is a large‑scale deployment intended to boost the country’s weak crude production.
A 100‑year concession is highly unusual in modern oil industry practice. It effectively gives a single operator control over specified fields for a period long enough to span numerous political changes, price cycles and shifts in global energy demand.
For Venezuela, whose economy has been battered by crisis and falling output, the promised influx of rigs and investment could help reverse years of decline in key fields. More equipment on the ground would require expanded logistics, services and labor, potentially creating new economic activity around the affected areas if the plans proceed as described.
The reported White House acknowledgment that these century‑long concessions have been granted, combined with NABEP’s preparation of a major drilling program, signals a new phase in how Venezuelan oil assets are being allocated and developed.
The arrangement also raises questions about how future Venezuelan governments might manage such long‑term commitments, and how external political and legal changes—whether in Caracas or Washington—could affect a firm with such deep, long‑duration stakes in the sector.
Key indicators to watch will be the publication or leak of concession terms, visible deployment of rigs and support equipment to the 17 fields, and any public steps by US authorities regarding licenses or enforcement that clarify how this long‑term deal fits within wider policy toward Venezuela.
Sources
- OSINT