Americas — 2026-09-04

White House Pick to Run Venezuela Oil Deal Under Investigation for Laundering Billions in Two Countries

BLUFWashington's active shielding of Betancourt from extradition and prosecution makes formal charges in any jurisdiction very unlikely by March 2027, embedding corruption risk at the center of US Venezuela oil policy.

The White House said Monday that North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) won 100-year concessions to 17 oil fields holding about 65 billion barrels 1; ICIJ and Reason put the US share of output at 20% 12, while the Miami Herald and AP reported 55% 3. NABEP's majority owner, Alejandro Betancourt, is under investigation in Switzerland and Spain on suspicion of laundering billions of dollars out of Venezuela 13; he has not been charged in either country or in a related 2018 Miami money-laundering case 3. Swiss authorities withdrew an extradition request against him in May after Justice Department officials, including then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and successor Todd Blanche, pressed them to drop it 23. The White House's announcement of the deal did not identify Betancourt as NABEP's owner or mention his past or ongoing investigations 1.

Analysis
Betancourt is very unlikely to face formal charges in the Swiss, Spanish, or Miami money-laundering investigations within the next eighteen months: Washington already engineered Bern's withdrawal of the extradition request, and a decade of scrutiny across three jurisdictions has yielded no indictment, with his new role atop NABEP giving officials added incentive to keep the cases dormant. Confidence is high, given convergent independent reporting from ICIJ and Miami Herald/AP, corroborated by Reason and NPR, rather than reliance on a single source. Reporting has newly tied Betancourt to NABEP's ownership and detailed the Justice Department's direct pressure on Swiss authorities. Washington may instead have simply needed an operator with existing Venezuelan infrastructure, given major US oil firms' reluctance to invest, but continued non-prosecution lets Treasury and State proceed with OFAC licensing and NABEP's buildout on schedule, whereas an indictment would force that timeline to be reassessed.

4 sources