Americas — 2026-10-23

ProPublica Reveals Secret 18-Page Text of Trump Venezuelan Oil Deal Favoring US Interests and Investigated Oligarch

BLUFProPublica's disclosure of the deal's actual terms hands congressional opponents a documented gap between White House claims and contractual reality that will fuel oversight hearings and legal challenges well into 2027.

ProPublica reported on October 21 that it reviewed the 18-page strategic partnership agreement, signed for the US by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, under which the US acquires a 35% stake in Alejandro Betancourt's North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) through its Barbados-registered parent company 12. The US may buy 20% of NABEP's oil at $30 a barrel and holds first purchase priority on the remainder for 50 years, with an irrevocable right to all of it in a national emergency 1. A seven-member board, majority US citizens, serves an initial 15-year term with no required Venezuelan government seat, and disputes go to a Texas federal court 12. ProPublica says the text does not guarantee the $200 billion in royalties and taxes the White House cited, and notes Betancourt has faced money-laundering investigations in three countries but has not been charged, which NABEP calls baseless 13.

Analysis
The agreement turns a political announcement into a legal instrument that the next Congress and a future Venezuelan government will contest, and it omitted from the August announcement both Betancourt's role and the FinCEN investigation. A US-majority board, a Texas federal forum and a supermajority needed to remove Betancourt mean reversal would require litigation or new legislation. The unguaranteed royalties against the $200 billion claim, and 50-year purchase rights against "a century" of dominance, give Democrats a documented basis for hearings on why Betancourt was chosen. The terms may instead be ordinary risk allocation for a sanctioned jurisdiction, where investors need US-law protection before committing capital. Open questions are the Barbados parent's owners, the Pentagon office's authority under sanctions, and the 100-year concession claim. Confidence is low: ProPublica is the sole primary account of an unpublished document, other outlets repeat it, and Caracas has not responded.

4 sources

The Secret Terms of Trumps Venezuelan Oil Deal - ProPublica
The Secret Text of Trump's "Biggest Oil Deal in History" with Venezuela - La Voce di New York
Trump's Venezuela Oil Deal Offers US Steep Discounts, With Little for Caracas: Report - Orinoco Tribune
The secret terms of Trump's Venezuelan oil deal - Asia Times