Betancourt family retains majority share in firm at heart of US-Venezuela oil deal

CARACAS: The family of Alejandro Betancourt, a contentious businessman at the centre of a massive US-Venezuela oil deal, retains the majority stake in his company NABEP, which is overseeing the agreement, the firm told AFP Wednesday.

The United States is taking a 35 per cent stake in Betancourt's North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), under the much-criticised multibillion-dollar pact with the interim government in Caracas. This administration has been in place under acute pressure from Washington since US forces ousted and captured Nicolas Maduro in January.

According to a White House report, Washington holds veto power over NABEP's board of directors, the majority of whom must be US citizens.

"The Betancourt family remains the majority shareholder of NABEP," a company spokesperson told AFP via email.

NABEP is Venezuela's second-largest private oil company and will operate 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields with proven reserves of approximately 65 billion barrels under the agreement announced last month.

Betancourt's presence in the massive oil deal caused a stir in Venezuela, where he is known as a "bolichico" – a businessman who amassed huge wealth under the administrations of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez and his successor, Maduro.

The 46-year-old has been linked to a corruption scandal in Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA.

There is an open money laundering and tax fraud case against him in Spain, while Switzerland opened criminal proceedings against him for money laundering.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has defended NABEP's "highly successful track record of producing large volumes of oil in Venezuela."

NABEP's spokesperson said the Barbados-based firm "was selected by the US government because of its recognised expertise" and "its operational success in oil production" in Venezuela.

The company says it produces more than 200,000 barrels of oil per day, putting it second behind US firm Chevron, which produces between 230,000 and 250,000 barrels per day.

Interim leader Delcy Rodriguez has insisted that Venezuelan sovereignty will remain intact despite the extent of the control granted to the US by the deal. The unorthodox arrangement has prompted accusations that the Trump administration is openly raiding Venezuela's oil wealth.

Watched over by Washington after US forces ousted Maduro, Rodriguez has opened up Venezuela's mining, oil and electricity sectors to foreign and private capital.