Ranking Senate Democrats on foreign relations, energy, banking and armed services committees question the Pentagon’s plan to take a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), Venezuela’s second-largest oil producer. They argue the deal stands on shaky legal ground and undermines Venezuela’s democratic transition. The U.S. unveiled the plan in early September for a passive stake in NABEP, which controls 17 oil blocks with an estimated 65 billion barrels of oil.
Venezuela claims 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, the world’s largest. As part of the arrangement, the State Department would get preferential rights to buy 20% of production at cost. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.
H.), Jack Reed (D., R. I.), Martin Heinrich (D., N. M.), and Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright demanding the deal’s text, terms, and legal rationale.
They questioned how the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital could acquire a foreign oil stake and how the State Department would pay for the oil. The Trump administration says the deal would lower U.S. fuel costs and boost the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, currently at its lowest since 1982. The senators doubt it will reduce energy costs and warn it risks undermining Venezuela’s democratic transition.
They also questioned whether Trump family members or donors would benefit and expressed skepticism about NABEP’s ability to scale production to 500,000 barrels a day by late 2028, despite its efforts to line up 60 drilling rigs and 30 steam boilers. Any future probe would likely begin after the November midterms, contingent on Democratic electoral success.
Fonte: Wall Street Journal US Business · Resumido por HeadlinesBriefing