By Sarah Kinosian, Marianna Parraga and Gram Slattery
CARACAS/MIAMI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The billionaire who helped broker the Trump administration's sweeping long-term oil deal with Venezuela was until recently a target of U.S. money-laundering investigations involving funds embezzled from the state-owned oil company PDVSA. Now, after **** isting U.S. authorities ahead of the capture of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro, Alejandro Betancourt is Washington's key partner in an unusual oil agreement with Caracas.
According to last week's announcement, the U.S. gains access to about one-fifth of Venezuela's crude reserves for decades. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital takes a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), Betancourt's company and a known crude producer in Venezuela. The State Department gets the right to buy 20% of NABEP's oil at cost, and preferential access to the remaining 80% of output.
The deal marks a striking change of fortune for Betancourt, who four people familiar with U.S. policy in Venezuela said was key to U.S. strategy and planning in the lead-up to the January 3 operation that removed former President Maduro from power and flew him to New York to face charges of drug-trafficking, which Maduro denies.
Asked about the investigations of Betancourt, a U.S. official who declined to be named said most of the legal challenges were nearly a decade old — and that he currently has no legal problems in the United States. NABEP's record of pumping oil in Venezuela made Betancourt the best partner to help boost output under the arrangement, the official said.
#venezuela #deal #partner
CARACAS/MIAMI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The billionaire who helped broker the Trump administration's sweeping long-term oil deal with Venezuela was until recently a target of U.S. money-laundering investigations involving funds embezzled from the state-owned oil company PDVSA. Now, after **** isting U.S. authorities ahead of the capture of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro, Alejandro Betancourt is Washington's key partner in an unusual oil agreement with Caracas.
According to last week's announcement, the U.S. gains access to about one-fifth of Venezuela's crude reserves for decades. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital takes a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), Betancourt's company and a known crude producer in Venezuela. The State Department gets the right to buy 20% of NABEP's oil at cost, and preferential access to the remaining 80% of output.
The deal marks a striking change of fortune for Betancourt, who four people familiar with U.S. policy in Venezuela said was key to U.S. strategy and planning in the lead-up to the January 3 operation that removed former President Maduro from power and flew him to New York to face charges of drug-trafficking, which Maduro denies.
Asked about the investigations of Betancourt, a U.S. official who declined to be named said most of the legal challenges were nearly a decade old — and that he currently has no legal problems in the United States. NABEP's record of pumping oil in Venezuela made Betancourt the best partner to help boost output under the arrangement, the official said.
#venezuela #deal #partner
2 months ago
