Pentagon Backs Venezuelan Oil Venture with 35% Equity

The Pentagon plans a 35% passive stake in NABEP, a private company holding Venezuelan oil rights, via penny warrants, giving Washington equity and 20% of future production at cost. NABEP, led by Alejandro Betancourt, would develop 17 oil fields, a move aimed at unlocking production as major U.S. producers were reluctant to invest in Venezuela. Negotiated after State Department involvement, the arrangement could place U.S. firms in competition with a privately run venture backed by the government, with concerns about the deal’s durability and how quickly production would translate into supply given Venezuela’s aging infrastructure and potential future political shifts.