The first shipment of Venezuelan crude oil under an agreement between the United States and North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) has arrived in Texas, where the US government will sell it to refineries operated by ExxonMobil and Citgo.
“This shipment marks the beginning of a broader agreement between the company and the US Departments of State and War, which gives the US government the right to purchase 20% of NABEP’s production at cost, with no profit margin, as well as a 35% equity stake in NABEP’s parent company,” the company said in a statement.
The deal, announced in August by the administration of President Donald Trump and the government of Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, grants NABEP drilling rights for 100 years across 17 oil fields holding an estimated 65 billion barrels of crude — roughly one-fifth of Venezuela’s reserves.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Corpus Christi, Texas, where they held a campaign rally and viewed one of the recently arrived tankers at the port.
“This shipment reached Texas in just over a week. Crude from the Middle East can take more than a month to arrive,” NABEP Chief Executive Alejandro Betancourt said in the statement.
The company retains operational control and aims to increase production to more than one million barrels per day in the near term.
“Over the past two years, the company has increased production from around 18,000 barrels per day to more than 200,000, backed by approximately $1 billion of its own investment,” the company said. As of 19 October, total production stood at 223,509 barrels per day.
The first shipment is part of an agreement described as “historic” by both the United States and Venezuela. It was announced nearly eight months after the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, an event that ushered in a new phase in relations between Washington and Venezuela’s new interim administration.
