US energy secretary will travel to Venezuela to unveil oil arrangement

What the report says

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to travel to Venezuela on Tuesday as the Trump administration moves ahead with a controversial oil arrangement, according to Al Jazeera’s report citing unnamed US officials. The timing follows a vote in Venezuela’s National Assembly to support the agreement, even though lawmakers said the full terms had not been made public.

Al Jazeera reported that the deal would give the United States access to about 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, roughly one-fifth of the country’s total. The arrangement is said to involve a private partner, North American Blue Energy Partners, and to cover extraction from 17 large oil fields over a long lease period. The White House also confirmed a partnership involving businessman Alejandro Betancourt, a former ally of Hugo Chavez.

According to the article, the Venezuelan government under interim president Delcy Rodriguez has defended the pact as helpful to the country’s struggling economy. Her brother, National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez, said the treaty was approved, while some opposition lawmakers objected to the lack of published details and demanded the full text.

The report says the agreement would give US agencies a stake in the venture and the right to buy some oil at cost. It comes as Venezuela’s oil sector remains weakened by sanctions and mismanagement, and as Washington seeks greater influence over the country’s energy resources. Critics in the article likened the deal to arrangements imposed by colonial powers.