Trump Administration Secures Massive Oil Agreement with Venezuela
6 sources across 5 countries
Who reported this
- CNN
- Bloomberg
- Folha de S.Paulo
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- The Japan Times
- Reuters
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping oil accord with Venezuela that grants the United States significant control over the country's crude reserves. Under the agreement, a company called North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), founded by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, has been granted 100 year concessions for 17 oil fields. These fields contain approximately 65 billion barrels of oil, which represents about 20 percent of Venezuela's estimated reserves. The U.S. government will hold a 35 percent stake in Nabep and is entitled to 20 percent of the oil marketed at cost, with preference for the sale of the remaining 80 percent. The deal was approved by the Venezuelan National Assembly and involves interim president Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president under Nicolas Maduro. Maduro was captured by the U.S. military in January and brought to New York to face narco trafficking charges. Rodriguez claims the deal will bring 100 billion dollars in infrastructure investment and 209 billion dollars in revenue. Chevron has already announced plans to invest 7 billion dollars over five years to double its production to 600,000 barrels per day. Other U.S. firms, including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, are expected to return. However, the deal has caused friction within the U.S. oil industry, with some leaders feeling blindsided by the arrangement. Additionally, reports indicate that the U.S. Justice Department closed a long running money laundering probe into Alejandro Betancourt around the time the deal was being engineered. A Justice Department spokesperson has denied that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche personally intervened to close the case.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- This framing emphasized the legal controversies surrounding Alejandro Betancourt and the closing of his criminal investigation.
- Centre
- These outlets focused on the bizarre nature of the agreement and the potential for a U.S. monopoly over Venezuelan oil.
- Centre-right
- This perspective highlighted how the deal might empower the old regime and delay democratic transitions in Venezuela.
Sources
- Centre Bloomberg: Trump’s Deals Keep Industries and Investors Parsing the Details
- Centre Bloomberg: Trump’s Big Venezuela Deal Leaves US Oil Industry Blindsided
- Centre-left CNN: Trump administration quietly closes criminal probe into Venezuela businessman amid oil deal
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Trump and Venezuela make bizarre agreement for oil
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Trump and Venezuela: An oil deal that gives the old regime new power
- Centre Reuters: US structured Venezuela oil position to protect it from dilution, official says - Reuters
- Centre The Japan Times: Trump’s big Venezuela deal leaves U.S. oil industry blindsided
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.