Pentagon-backed NABEP deal could put US in control of Venezuela’s oil reserves

Under the deal, NABEP will operate 17 Venezuelan oilfields for a century, while the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital takes a 35% equity stake at no cost and the State Department gains a 20% output right at production cost with first refusal on the rest; officials say it secures energy for national security and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. If correct, NABEP would control roughly 65 billion barrels of proven reserves—about 20% of Venezuela’s total—potentially making it the second-largest oil holder behind Aramco, though legal and political uncertainties loom amid Venezuela’s instability and concerns about governance and private investment.