The Trump administration announced an agreement in August giving the Pentagon a stake in a Venezuelan oil company, which the president characterized as “the biggest oil deal in world history.” The arrangement emerged after US forces entered Venezuela in January and apprehended President Nicolás Maduro, who was replaced by Delcy Rodríguez. Trump stated the agreement would eventually replenish the US strategic petroleum reserve, which had been depleted following a separate military action against Iran.
According to a Guardian investigation, however, experts and officials dispute virtually all major claims made by the administration regarding the deal’s viability. Legal specialists argue that Venezuelan law restricts oil concessions to a maximum of 25 years, not the extended terms the agreement purportedly includes. Additionally, experts question whether the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital possesses legal authority under US law to own equity stakes in companies. The structure of the deal, critics contend, would not generate new capital for Venezuela’s oil sector, and they express skepticism about the administration’s timeline for replenishing the strategic petroleum reserve.
The central figure in the arrangement is Alejandro Betancourt López, a 46-year-old Venezuelan who owns North American Blue Energy Partners, the company in which the Pentagon claims to hold an ownership stake. Betancourt has residences in multiple countries and a background in Venezuela’s energy sector. He has been drawn into international investigations related to Venezuelan corruption allegations, though he has not faced criminal charges. According to sources familiar with the matter, Betancourt was introduced to the deal through an associate of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Pentagon claims to hold either direct ownership or warrant rights in the company, with conflicting characterizations of its actual equity position. The state department separately maintains contractual rights to purchase oil at cost. Pentagon officials stated the arrangement would provide the US with majority control of approximately 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan oil reserves at no taxpayer expense. The administration asserts this constitutes a private commercial transaction rather than an official agreement with Venezuela’s interim government, though Trump’s initial announcement framed it as an accord with the country itself.
Former US diplomat John Feeley and other observers expressed doubt about the deal’s durability, comparing its viability to previous Trump initiatives that failed to materialize as initially described. The arrangement reflects an expansion of the Pentagon’s traditional role, as the Defense Department had not previously operated as a direct investor in foreign companies prior to the Trump administration.
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