The oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, has announced the arrival in the United States of its first shipment of Venezuelan oil, consisting of one million barrels distributed across two ships that have already docked at the port of Corpus Christi, Texas.
To emphasize the nature of the agreement sealed between the company and its new strategic buyer, the Government of the United States, Nabep has decided to deliver this first million barrels "at no cost to the American taxpayer," as detailed by the company in a statement. This shipment effectively inaugurates the pact signed with the State and Defense departments of the United States, under which Washington obtains the right to purchase 20% of Nabep's total volume at production price, in addition to a 35% stake in the parent company's capital.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, traveled to the Texas port on Tuesday to witness the docking of one of the tankers live. During a rally held at the port facilities, the American president boasted about the operation, pointing to the newly arrived ship. "They have a small boat out there. It has a million barrels of oil from Venezuela, and we are celebrating the biggest oil victory in history," he stated.
Trump has claimed the result of the intervention, emphasizing that the crude supply is arriving in the United States "at zero cost to the American taxpayer," while highlighting that ties with Caracas have become "very good" and that major companies in the sector are allocating billions of dollars to the South American country to drive a strong increase in employment and oil extraction.
From the business side, Betancourt has focused on the agility of the logistical operation: "This shipment has arrived in Texas in just over a week. Middle Eastern crude can take more than a month," said the CEO of Nabep.
"This first shipment following the agreement between the US and Nabep will be followed by thousands of similar arrivals, and each one of them demonstrates to the world that Venezuela has returned to being a reliable energy supplier, with the United States as its main buyer," emphasized Betancourt, also stressing that each ship heading north to the American continent "generates employment and investment back to Venezuela."
The commercial advance comes in parallel to the strong increase in the company's production. According to data released by the oil company itself, its total hydrocarbon production reached on October 19 223,509 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and it has rights to market more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in Venezuelan territory.