‘When you don’t feel loved…’: Trump’s Venezuela oil pact leaves US producers uneasy as NABEP gains control of 17 fields

President Donald Trump has boasted that his sweeping oil agreement with Venezuela — effectively giving the US control over much of the nation’s crude wealth — is possibly “the greatest deal ever made.” But most US oil executives beg to differ.

The deal involves a new Venezuelan oil venture covering 17 fields with around 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. The US government will take a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a private oil company led by investor Alejandro Betancourt and will also have the right to purchase 20% of its production at cost. NABEP has secured 100-year rights to develop 17 Venezuelan oil fields.

What does the US oil industry say?

The US oil industry is concerned that it could short-circuit ongoing commercial negotiations and give NABEP massive control over some of Venezuela’s most attractive oil.

Industry executives say the number of fields allocated to NABEP leaves fewer opportunities for companies seeking their own leases. In fact, some of the fields which are now under NABEP’s control, were in high demand and reportedly coveted by other prospective investors.

This comes at a time when Trump wants to rapidly attract US investment and revive Venezuela’s struggling oil industry after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

Energy companies, including Chevron, Eni and GE Vernova, have already signed investment deals in Caracas, and the Trump team cited those as evidence that private companies are successfully negotiating in Venezuela.

But most investors remain frustrated. Bryan Sheffield, a third-generation Texas oil entrepreneur who was among the executives who met Trump at the White House in January, said they have made little progress on their plans in Venezuela.

“My team wants to keep working it, but when you don’t feel loved, and you don’t feel wanted, and you see that they’re just cutting conventional fields only, I think unconventional guys will just move to the next country,” Sheffield told Bloomberg.

The NABEP deal has also raised concerns about the US government becoming a direct participant in Venezuela’s oil industry.

“When the government takes an equity investment in a private company, it has an incentive to try to preserve that investment,” said Kevin Book, managing director at Washington-based ClearView Energy Partners. “The question is whether or not it does so in a way that’s complementary with the rest of the industry — or competitive with it.”

What does the White House say?

The administration rejects that characterisation, saying NABEP’s arrangement applies only to a specific group of fields and does not prevent other companies from negotiating with Venezuela.

“This deal has been struck with a private company that has the best track record of success of any company operating in Venezuela — a proven operator, who knows how to scale production and can operate there,” the White House said in a news release Wednesday.

The Trump administration has also emphasised that some of the oil fields involved in the NABEP transaction were previously controlled by Russian and Chinese firms.

“The administration is replacing them with an above-board US-led system that will offer great benefits to both the American and Venezuela people,” the White House official said.

Yet for some US oil executives, the central question remains whether Trump’s Venezuela strategy will create more opportunities—or leave fewer of the best ones available to private producers.