The Trump administration has structured a Venezuela oil agreement that gives the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital a 35% equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP, while the State Department can buy 20% of its production at cost and has a right of first refusal over the remainder. NABEP holds 100-year concessions to 17 Venezuelan oilfields containing 65 billion barrels of proved reserves, according to the White House, or about 20% of the country's estimated reserves. The company said it has raised production from 18,000 barrels per day to more than 200,000 barrels per day and aims to exceed 1 million barrels per day. The arrangement gives the U.S. government board-veto rights and requires a majority of NABEP directors to be U.S. citizens, prompting questions about the legal authority for the Pentagon's equity position and the durability of the deal. NABEP Chief Executive Officer Alejandro Betancourt has denied wrongdoing amid past money-laundering and corruption allegations and continuing Swiss proceedings.