Former US Congressman Adam Kinzinger has alleged that the US government entered into an oil deal with a Venezuelan businessman who has faced money-laundering investigations, as it seeks discounted crude from the South American country.
Kinzinger said North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the company involved in the deal, was run by Alejandro Betancourt, who has faced money-laundering investigations in Switzerland, Spain and the US.Kinzinger claimed that the US Department of Justice officials reportedly asked the foreign governments to close investigations against Betancourt.
Citing a report by ProPublica, Kinzinger said the agreement, under which the US government would acquire a 35 per cent stake in NABEP's parent company, was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The agreement's structure is designed to prevent future administrations in the US or Venezuela from dismantling the enterprise, the report said.
Kinzinger, a Republican who represented Illinois in the House of Representatives, has clashed with US President Donald Trump on several issues, including his foreign policy and claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
NABEP spokesperson Terry Wade told ProPublica that Betancourt had never been charged with any crime in any country and that claims against him were baseless.
Trump has claimed that the Venezuelan deal would secure America's energy dominance for the next century by giving it access to 111 billion barrels of oil – 65 billion barrels from Venezuela and 46 billion barrels from US proven reserves.
However, the text of the 18-page contract indicates that US purchasing rights expire in half that period, while the underlying operating rights appear to conflict with Venezuelan laws limiting oil concessions to 25 years, according to the report.
The White House, the State Department, the Pentagon and NABEP defended the agreement, saying their new public-private venture would provide meaningful and lasting economic benefits to both countries that could not be captured in a legal document.
“This historic deal marks a major step toward stabilising Venezuela’s economy after years of hyperinflation and almost no new investment, while more than doubling the United States’ oil reserves,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers was quoted as saying in the report.
The agreement gives the US the right to purchase 20 per cent of NABEP's oil at a discounted rate of $30 a barrel, according to ProPublica.
However, it does not explicitly guarantee that Betancourt's company is obligated to pay the estimated $200 billion in royalties and tax payments to Venezuela that the White House has said would benefit the country.
The report said the $30-a-barrel price did not account for the cost of transporting Venezuelan oil out of the country.
Much of Venezuela's crude is so thick that it cannot flow through pipelines unless it is first blended with thinner oil products, which can account for 20 per cent or more of the mixture.
Under the deal, the potentially significant cost of importing millions of barrels of these blending materials is not included in the price, the report said.
In August, Trump announced that his administration had entered into a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realised, could give the US access to vast amounts of the South American country's oil resources at cost.
According to the Venezuelan government, the deal involves developing 17 oil fields with a stated potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could attract $100 billion in investment to Venezuela's oil industry and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Caracas.
The announcement came nearly nine months after the US military, acting at Trump's direction, captured Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the US to face federal narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking charges. - PTI
