Venezuela Oil Production Holds at Seven-Year High as Trump Makes Growth the Goal
Venezuela · Energy
Key Facts
—The level. Venezuela pumped about 1.2 million barrels per day in August, the highest in seven years, with exports near 1.17 million bpd — and production is holding steady under the new energy framework with Washington.
—The venture. North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), led by Alejandro Betancourt, holds 100-year concessions over 17 fields with an estimated 65 billion barrels of reserves; the US government takes a 35% stake and a guaranteed 20% of production at cost.
—The plan. NABEP talks of investing nearly US$100 billion and lifting output from its fields above 1 million bpd, with six drilling rigs by year-end, twelve more in 2027 and a two-rigs-per-month pace from 2028.
—The politics. President Trump keeps marveling publicly at the reserves — “there’s really nothing like it,” he said, according to Venezuela’s Globovisión — making production growth a stated political objective, not just a business plan.
Ten days after Washington and Caracas sealed their oil opening, the numbers are holding and the rhetoric is rising: Venezuelan crude output sits at a seven-year high, and the Trump-backed venture led by Alejandro Betancourt is sketching a drilling ramp-up that runs through 2028 and beyond.
Venezuela Oil Production Holds at Seven-Year High
Venezuela oil production is the quiet foundation under a very loud political story. Output in August came in at about 1.20 million barrels per day on OPEC’s count — 1.201 million, up marginally from July — while a survey of secondary sources put the figure as high as 1.23 million bpd, a gain of roughly 70,000 bpd and the strongest month in seven years. Export tracking tells the same story from the other side: crude shipments averaged about 1.17 million bpd in August.
For a country that pumped more than 3 million bpd in the late 1990s and fell below 400,000 bpd at the 2020 trough, the current level is both a recovery and a fraction of potential. What is new is the trajectory’s sponsorship: the increase is no longer happening despite Washington, but inside a framework built with Washington.
That framework, unveiled around September 1, grants North American Blue Energy Partners — the venture led by Spanish-Venezuelan entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt — 100-year rights to develop 17 oil fields holding an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. The US government receives a 35% passive stake, a guaranteed 20% of the venture’s production at cost, and a right of first refusal on the remaining output, according to a White House fact sheet and reporting by Reuters and Al Jazeera. Our earlier breakdown of the deal’s terms covers the full structure.
The Betancourt Venture’s Road to 2028
NABEP’s ambitions are stated in round numbers: investments approaching US$100 billion and a near-term goal of lifting production from its fields above 1 million bpd — roughly double Venezuela’s current national output, from the concession areas alone.
The operational calendar, described by the Wall Street Journal, runs in steps: six drilling rigs deployed in the Venezuelan fields by the end of 2026, twelve more during 2027, and from 2028 onward an additional two rigs per month until the fleet reaches 52. Venezuelan outlet La Patilla frames the venture’s promise the way officials in both capitals now do: raising national production meaningfully by 2028. That target is political as much as technical — it lands inside the current US presidential term.
Oil engineers will note the gap between rigs and barrels: fifty-two rigs is a serious fleet, but Venezuela’s fields require not just drilling but power, pipelines, upgraders and port capacity that two decades of underinvestment eroded. The US$100 billion figure, if it materializes, is meant to buy exactly that reconstruction.
Trump Turns Reserves Into a Talking Point
What changed this week is less the geology than the rhetoric. Trump has taken to marveling publicly at the scale of what the deal secured — “there’s really nothing like it,” he said of the reserves, according to Globovisión, the Venezuelan broadcaster. US media coverage has documented the same instinct in more measured quotes: the president touting American access to a fifth of Venezuela’s reserves and calling the agreement historic.
The numbers behind the superlatives are real. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven crude reserves — over 300 billion barrels nationally — and the 65 billion barrels inside the NABEP concession would, by themselves, rank among the biggest national endowments on earth. When a US president treats that as a bragging point, production growth stops being an industry forecast and becomes a deliverable.
That has consequences on both sides. In Caracas, output targets now carry the weight of the political relationship with Washington; missing them would embarrass more than a ministry. In Washington, the 35% stake and the guaranteed 20% of production give the US government a direct interest in volumes, not just in prices — an unusual position for a country that spent years sanctioning Venezuelan crude.
What It Means for the Region
For Latin America, a Venezuela producing steadily above 1.2 million bpd — and officially aiming higher — reshuffles several decks at once. Gulf Coast refiners configured for heavy crude get a sanctioned, politically protected supplier. Colombia and Brazil watch a neighbor’s reconstruction economy accelerate. And Caribbean states that once depended on subsidized Venezuelan fuel see the island of Petrocaribe-era influence being rebuilt with American capital, as we explored in our analysis of Venezuela’s reform path.
For expats and businesses in Venezuela itself, the oil opening is already the economy’s main engine: dollar flows, service contracts and logistics work concentrate in the oil belt long before they reach shop shelves. The steadier production holds, the more credible the government’s broader stabilization promises look — and the more the country becomes a conventional energy investment story with unconventional political risk.
What to Watch
Three markers will show whether the opening widens further. First, OPEC’s September data, due in coming days, will confirm — or trim — the seven-year-high narrative. Second, the first NABEP rig movements before year-end: six rigs by December is the plan’s earliest testable promise. Third, any widening of the framework itself — new fields, new licensees, or an expansion of the marketing rights NABEP already holds over more than 65 billion barrels. Each step moves Venezuelan oil further from sanctions-era improvisation and closer to a managed, US-anchored growth program.
More: Venezuela news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much oil is Venezuela producing now?
About 1.2 million barrels per day in August 2026 on OPEC’s count, with secondary-source surveys as high as 1.23 million bpd — a seven-year high — and exports near 1.17 million bpd.
What is Alejandro Betancourt’s venture planning?
North American Blue Energy Partners holds 100-year concessions over 17 fields with about 65 billion barrels of reserves, plans to invest nearly US$100 billion, aims to lift its fields above 1 million bpd, and intends to scale from six drilling rigs by end-2026 to 52 rigs from 2028 onward.
What does the US government get from the Venezuela oil deal?
A 35% passive stake in NABEP, a guaranteed 20% of the venture’s production at cost, and a right of first refusal on the remaining output — making Venezuelan production growth a stated political objective in Washington.
Sources
OPEC data via Trading Economics (August 2026 production) · Reuters/Al Jazeera (deal terms, September 1–5, 2026) · White House fact sheet (August 31, 2026) · Wall Street Journal (rig schedule) · Globovisión (Trump remark, as reported) · La Patilla (2028 production framing, as reported) · S&P Global (NABEP investment plan)
Connected Coverage
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Venezuela’s China-Style Reform: Oil, Dollars and Living Standards
Sources: OPEC; Reuters; Al Jazeera; Wall Street Journal; S&P Global; Globovisión; La Patilla.
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