MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Tuesday, September 1st 2026 - 09:23 UTC
Betancourt said in a statement that Venezuela is “blessed with an abundance of natural resources, hardworking people and untapped potential,” and thanked Trump and Rodríguez
The White House on Monday identified the company that will operate seventeen Venezuelan oil fields for a century in partnership with the US government: North American Blue Energy Partners, owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who is under investigation in Switzerland and Spain over his alleged involvement in a scheme to launder funds from the state oil company PDVSA. There is no conviction against him.
The announcement comes three days after President Donald Trump disclosed the agreement without identifying the private operator, a detail the administration had withheld. According to the document now released, Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, granted the company hundred-year rights over fields holding some 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, around a fifth of Venezuela's total.
