Jorge Rodriguez announced approval of an unpublished text
Jorge Rodriguez, as head of Venezuela's National Assembly, announced on Tuesday that support for the binational energy treaty between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the United States of America was approved. The interim government under President Delcy Rodriguez treats the arrangement as beneficial to the country's economy; her brother Jorge Rodriguez leads the assembly. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to travel to Venezuela to unveil the arrangement. An anonymous US official told reporters that Wright would travel on Tuesday, that the deal first and foremost furthers the national interest of the United States, and that it is critically important for the US to be able to buy oil at cost reliably.[1]
Luis Emilio Rondon, an opposition lawmaker, said they need and are obliged to know what is written in the fine print, and called for the full and complete text of what has been agreed. Some opposition members of Venezuela's National Assembly abstained from the vote and protested the lack of public disclosure of the terms. Critics in Venezuela, while details are still emerging, liken the arrangement to deals imposed by colonial powers. Delcy Rodriguez's government defends the same arrangement as a boon to the country's beleaguered economy.[1]
65 billion barrels, 100 years, a 35 per cent Defence stake
The deal gives the US access to about one-fifth of Venezuela's proven reserves, 65 billion barrels, across 17 large fields on a 100-year lease. The US is expected to enter a partnership with a private company to extract fuel from those fields. Under the arrangement the US Defence Department takes a 35 per cent stake in a new company and the State Department gains the right to buy 20 per cent of the oil produced at cost. Venezuela's energy sector has become dilapidated; critics point to heavy US sanctions and government mismanagement.[1]
The White House confirmed on Monday that it is partnering with North American Blue Energy Partners, helmed by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. Alejandro Betancourt is a former ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and has faced criminal investigations for alleged money laundering in Spain and Switzerland. An anonymous US official said Betancourt is not facing any criminal charges in the US, and that he was not nominating anyone for sainthood. The same official framed the arrangement as a geopolitical opportunity to secure fields that had largely been under the influence of Chinese and Russian companies.[1]
Chevron's expansion and where elections sit in the near term
The Donald Trump administration has exercised increasing influence over Venezuela's government since the 3 January military operation that abducted and imprisoned President Nicolas Maduro. In the wake of Nicolas Maduro's abduction, Trump backed the socialist leader's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to take over Venezuela's government. An anonymous US official said democratic elections in Venezuela were not feasible in the immediate future. The same official added that periods of transition almost invariably require working with elements of the existing structure, even while creating a new one.[1]
Chevron is separately expected to sign an agreement to expand operations in Venezuela on Wednesday. Donald Trump announced the oil arrangement covering 65 billion barrels on 27 August in a post on the Truth Social platform; some companies have expressed scepticism about investing there. Tuesday's vote in Venezuela's National Assembly authorizes a 100-year lease whose full text legislators have not been able to read in public. If Venezuela's National Assembly or the executive does not publish the full text of the binational energy treaty by 30 September 2026, Tuesday's vote will have authorized a 100-year lease that legislators cannot audit from a public text.[1]