US Energy Secretary to Visit Venezuela Following Oil Reserves Deal
· World · Al Jazeera, France 24
United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright is scheduled to travel to Venezuela on Tuesday as the administration moves forward with an agreement granting the US control over a significant share of Venezuelan oil reserves. The arrangement provides access to 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, roughly one-fifth of the nation's total. The US will partner with North American Blue Energy Partners, led by businessman Alejandro Betancourt, to extract fuel from 17 large oil fields under a 100-year lease. The new corporate structure gives the US Defence Department a 35 percent ownership stake and grants the State Department the right to purchase 20 percent of the produced oil. Venezuela's interim government and National Assembly backed the pact, though opposition lawmakers abstained and criticized the lack of publicly available agreement terms.
Why it matters
The long-term energy agreement shifts geopolitical control over a major portion of global oil reserves to the United States while drawing criticism from local opposition over transparency.
Read the original report — Al Jazeera
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