President Donald Trump has lauded a new oil accord with Venezuela as potentially "the greatest deal ever made," effectively granting the US control over a large share of Venezuela's oil resources. However, some US oil executives disagree with this assessment, raising concerns about the implications of the deal.
The agreement involves the displacement of operators sanctioned by Washington from 17 Venezuelan oil fields, many of whom were linked to former leader Nicolás Maduro. These operators had previously helped maintain crude flow to Asia despite US sanctions. The Venezuelan government is transferring these fields to a partnership between the US and North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), led by Alejandro Betancourt, who has been assisting the Trump administration in attracting smaller US oil prospectors to Venezuela.
The US estimates that the oil fields included in this agreement hold approximately 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. These fields consist of both underexploited "greenfields" and decades-old "brownfields." Half of these fields are located in the Orinoco Belt, and the other half are in the state of Zulia, Venezuela's primary oil-producing region. While the deal aims to increase US energy supply and potentially reduce oil prices, it has created unease among some US energy companies.
