US-backed NABEP lands 100-year Venezuelan oil concessions

Venezuela’s interim authorities granted NABEP, a U.S.-backed company, 100-year concessions over 17 oil fields with about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. NABEP reportedly issued a 35% equity stake to the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital. The U.S. would also be entitled to purchase 20% of NABEP’s current and future production at production cost to refill the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as part of a broader deal tying Caracas’ oil to U.S. storage needs and governance claims over a portion of Venezuela’s reserves.