Trump's State Capitalism Comes to the Oil Industry With His Unprecedented Venezuela Deal
The deal comes eight months after Washington ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in a military raid.
TL;DR
- The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital received a 35% equity stake in NABEP, a private oil company operating Venezuelan oilfields.
- This deal gives the U.S. majority control over an estimated 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven crude reserves.
- NABEP's CEO, Alejandro Betancourt, is a figure who has faced investigations into past ventures.
- The U.S. government also has preferential purchasing rights for NABEP's oil output and veto power over board appointments.
- This move is seen as an unprecedented instance of state capitalism in the oil industry by the U.S. government.
- The deal aims to secure resources critical to national security and counter Chinese and Russian influence in Venezuela's oil sector.
- Legal and political uncertainties, including potential changes in U.S. presidential administrations, cast doubt on the deal's long-term viability.