For golf fans like me, the past weekend was a festivity. First, we witnessed 23-year-old Ruoning (Ronni) Yin from China win her sixth LPGA title at the FM Championship in Boston. It was so moving to see her cry after a 672-day hiatus from her last victory.
Then, we witnessed the world’s number 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler win the season-ending Tour Championship by three strokes over Norway’s Viktor Hovland. With the $10 million prize, the Dallasite passed Tiger Woods on the all-time prize money list. Woods has held that record at $121 million since 2000.
Now, let’s dig into the breaking news this week: Trump's deal with Venezuela. I've also written about a new innovative partnership between the three leading oil companies in Norway, as well as my thoughts and takeaways from attending the IMAGE conference last week. You can read them below.
Three Leading Companies Unite to Further Exploration in Norway. Equinor, Aker BP, and Vår Energi unite in a first-of-its-kind partnership to facilitate successful drilling of high-impact wells.
President Donald Trump announced posted on social media that the United States reached a deal with Venezuela to secure control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves by teaming up with a private company. Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed the deal, though few details have been released.
Trump’s post: “At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth—working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, and through a partnership with private business—have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer,” announced President Trump last Friday on social media.
According to a Rystad report led by Vice President for Upstream Research Radhika Bensai and kindly shared with AAPG, the 17 areas include nine in the Orinoco region and eight mature developments in Maracaibo/Julia.
Output targets from these 17 areas are estimated to reach 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.
Production increase will first come from brown fields beginning in 2027. Production will start at roughly 157,000 barrels per day, increasing to 680,000 barrels per day by 2030 and 740,000 barrels per day by 2033.
Greenfield projects, most of those in the Orinoco belt, will not generate new production until 2035, though it has the potential to produce around 1.8 million barrels of oil per day until 2050 to compensate for the natural decline of other fields.
The reported $100 billion investment will be split 80:20 between greenfield and brownfield developments.
According to Rystad, success for the greenfield projects will depend on the new joint venture’s ability to attract additional large operators in addition to more investments in the infrastructure.
The private company will be composed of the U.S. government and a private operator in Venezuela.
The private operator in Venezuela is reportedly North American Blue Energy Partners, led by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt.
The U.S. government will take a 35 percent passive stake in NABEP.
The United States will have preferential rights to purchase 20 percent of NABEP’s production at cost.
Some of the Venezuelan oil production from this new joint project will be used to refill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Rodríguez said the “historical” deal would bring in more than $100 billion in new investments, more than $209 billion in tax revenue, and thousands of jobs to help rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry.
The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital will structure the investment “through penny warrants that would yield the U.S. an equity ownership in the business without a significant capital investment,” according to the WSJ.
The State Department led the deal. The OSC stepped in later to find a financial mechanism for the agreement, according to the WSJ.
The OSC was launched in 2022 during the Biden Administration.
Rodríguez said that the deal would be “putting our immense reserves at the service of national development and have a significant impact on our nation’s revival,” according to The New York Times.
About NABEP:
Barbados-based NABEP was the second-largest private producer in Venezuela after Chevron.
According to the F.T., Betancourt co-founded NABEP with Harry Sargeant III, a Florida energy tycoon, in April 2024.
Betancourt signed NABEP’s first oil deal in 2011 with PDVSA for a stake in the Petrozamora joint venture, according to the Financial Times.
He increased oil production from Petrozamora from 20,000 barrels per day to 200,000 barrels per day, according to F.T.
Behind the leader: Betancourt, 46, is reportedly close to Rodríguez and known in Venezuela as a Bolichico, a wealthy businessman with strong political connections.
Betancourt is also the majority owner of a Spain-based sunglasses company.
Betancourt relocated to the United Kingdom “earlier this decade,” according to the F.T.
Betancourt faced criminal investigations of alleged money laundering in Switzerland and Spain, according to the WSJ.
He was also prevented from legally leaving the United Kingdom until May 2026 due to an ongoing Swiss investigation into potential money laundering.
In May, the Swiss government dropped the extradition request.
According to the Washington Post, former attorney-general Pam Bondi and her then deputy Todd Blanche called Swiss prosecutors earlier in 2026 about the investigation into Betancourt.
Other Venezuela deals in the pipeline:
Chevron will reportedly sign agreements with PDVSA this week in Caracas to add two more oil fields to its existing operations in Venezuela, according to the WSJ.
Halliburton, one of the largest U.S. oilfield service companies, is in talks with the Venezuelan government to bring equipment that could help oil producers in Venezuela.
Several other oil and gas companies are set to sign deals in Caracas, Venezuela, according to the WSJ.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will reportedly travel to Venezuela this week, potentially witnessing the signing of these new deals.
Last week, Hunt was the first American independent to sign an oil deal with PDVSA at the IMAGE conference hosted by AAPG, SEG, and SEPM.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips—two American majors whose assets were previously nationalized by the Venezuelan government—have not yet signed any deals, though ExxonMobil was reportedly close to reaching an agreement for up to six oil fields in May, according to The New York Times.
Deal sentiment:There is some public opposition against this mega oil deal.
Some believe the current deal giving oil control to the U.S. government is a violation of the Venezuelan constitution.
Others doubt the sustainability of the agreement and whether it can survive potential political changes in either country.
Still others question who will invest in this deal to develop oil reserves to this extent.
What they are saying:
“This Historical Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans, long into the future,” said Trump on Truth Social.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty as to how these barrels go from reserves to actual production, and who’s going to invest the time, effort and money to do that,” said W. Schreiner Park, head partner and head of emerging markets and national oil companies at consulting firm Rystad Energy.
“Mr. Betancourt has never been charged with a crime in any jurisdiction. He is dedicated to serving the people of Venezuela by championing the country’s economic revitalization, and, when helpful and appropriate, acting as an intermediary between its government and the United States,” said NABEP legal counsel Sara Chouraqui.
What to watch:
The U.S. Department of War represents the U.S. government in this mega-deal, rather than the Department of Energy—an interesting element of the agreement.
The stage of the deal— whether it is a legally binding agreement or is at a less definitive stage such as a Heads of Agreement (HoA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)— has not been made public.
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