美媒披露美国国防部拟投资委内瑞拉石油开发

G IT THE LARGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY. HE ANNOUNCED AN AGREEMENT IN WHICH THE PENTAGON WOULD BECOME AN INVESTOR IN A PRIVATE COMPANY GRANTED EXCLUSIVE OIL DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS IN VENEZUELA. THE DEAL WOULD BE UNPRECEDENTED AND IT IS NOT CLEAR IF IT IS LEGAL UNDER VENEZUELAN LAW. NICK SCHIFRIN IS HERE WITH MORE. NICK: VENEZUELA SAYS IT HAS THE LARGEST PROVEN OIL RESERVES IN THE WORLD, BUT ANALYSTS SAY THAT INDUSTRY HAS BEEN CRIPPLED BY CORRUPTION AND MISMANAGEMENT.

THE PRESIDENT WHO CRITICIZED HIS PREDECESSORS FOR GOING TO WAR AND NOT TAKING COUNTRY POSSIBLE OIL IS NOW TAKING THEIR OIL.

THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY IT IS THE GREATEST DEAL THAT WAS EVER MADE. IT WAS ALSO A VERY GOOD DEAL FOR VENEZUELA. YOU HAVE THE MOST POWERFUL, THE RICHEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD GOING INTO VENEZUELA WHERE BEFORE IT WAS JUST AN UNBELIEVABLE VALUE SITTING DORMANT. WE ARE GOING TO BE TAKING ALL OF THAT OIL OUT. NICK: THE DEAL GIVES THE PENTAGON MORE THAN HALF A VALUE OF A JOINT VENTURE TO DEVELOP 17 OILFIELDS IN VENEZUELA, THE FIRST KNOWN TIME IN U.S.

HISTORY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WILL BECOME AN INVESTOR IN AN OVERSEAS OIL DEAL. THE U.S. IS PARTNER IS A NOTORIOUS BUSINESSMAN WHO FACES CHARGES IN SPAIN AND SWITZERLAND FOR MONEY LAUNDERING. THE INTERIM PRESIDENT DELCY RODRIGUEZ SAID IT WAS WIN-WIN.

VENEZUELA RECEIVES PRODUCTION, EMPLOYMENT, INVESTMENT AND PRODUCTION CHAINS. NICK: TO TALK ABOUT ALL THIS, I'M JOINED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE LATIN AMERICA ENERGY PROGRAM FOR THE BAKER INSTITUTE AT RICE UNIVERSITY. WELCOME BACK. THE U.S. WILL SECURE 55% OF THE EFFECTIVE OUTPUT OF THIS JOINT VENTURE. HOW UNPRECEDENTED IS THIS AND AS FAR AS WE KNOW HOW WILL IT WORK?

WE DON'T KNOW ALL THE DETAILS AND WE HAVE SOME DIVERGENT ACCOUNTS FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT, BUT BASICALLY THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT SAYS THESE ARE DEALS THAT ARE IN VENEZUELAN LAW IN WHICH THE NATIONAL COMPANY HIRES AN OPERATOR, IN THIS CASE THIS COMPANY THAT WOULD BE A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND SOME LOCAL BUSINESSMEN, AND THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE PART OF THE PRODUCTION AT COST, MEANING THAT THE U.S.

GOVERNMENT WILL ONLY PAY THE COST OF PRODUCTION. SO THE DETAILS ARE STILL NOT COMPLETELY CLEAR BUT IT IS A VERY UNORTHODOX DEAL COMPARED TO PREVIOUS DEALS DONE IN THE SECTOR. NICK: DELCY RODRIGUEZ CALLED WIN-WIN. VENEZUELA NEEDS INVESTMENT, THE U.S. NEEDS MORE ENERGY. IS IT A WIN-WIN?

DEPENDING IT COULD BE. THE PRESENCE OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT COULD MAKE INVESTORS MORE WILLING TO TAKE THE RISK OF COMING TO VENEZUELA WITH ALL THE ISSUES INCLUDING THE FACT THAT THIS IS AN ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT IN VENEZUELA AND THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY IS NOT GREAT IN TERMS OF RESPECTING DEALS BUT IT WILL DEPEND A LOT ON THE TRANSPARENCY OF THE DEAL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEAL BECAUSE OTHERWISE IF IT IS AN OPAQUE DEAL THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BENEFIT THE COUNTRY, THERE WILL BE A BACKLASH EVENTUALLY THEN WE WILL END UP AS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD AND IN VENEZUELA I