U.S. Officials Tour NABEP's Venezuelan Oil Fields: "Both of our countries are winning"
Two-day visit comes as NABEP's production in the Petrozamora oil fields hit a record 115,000 barrels per day and a sixth drilling rig arrives.
CARACAS, Venezuela, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. State Department officials, including Chargé d'Affaires John M. Barrett, visited the oil fields of North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) in western and eastern Venezuela on Oct. 23 and 24 to see how quickly the company is growing production under its August agreement with the U.S. government.
On Friday, Daniel Kennedy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy and Critical Minerals, joined NABEP CEO Alejandro Betancourt and PDVSA leadership at the Bachaquero field on Lake Maracaibo. The group inspected the Bachaquero Lago 2 compression module and checked on Bachaquero 3 and Ceuta 4, two projects expected to add to NABEP's production there within four months. That same day, NABEP's production in the Petrozamora oil fields reached a record 115,000 barrels per day. Mr. Barrett followed the visit from Miraflores Palace in Caracas. On Saturday, he and Mr. Kennedy traveled to NABEP's Junín 10 block in the Orinoco Belt, where the company's new drilling rigs are at work.
"Less than two months after this historic agreement was announced, our partner NABEP has already ramped up its oil production and brought in new rigs from the United States," said Mr. Barrett. "American rigs are putting Venezuelans to work, and Venezuelan oil is strengthening America's energy security. Both of our countries are winning."
Junín 10, formerly known as Junín Sur, is where most of NABEP's new drilling is taking place. Three drilling rigs are working there today, and three more will start soon, including a sixth rig that recently arrived in Venezuela. NABEP also runs 13 workover rigs for well repair and maintenance, with 15 more on the way.
"Every barrel we produce is the work of Venezuelan hands," said Mr. Betancourt. "From the shores of Lake Maracaibo to the Orinoco Belt, thousands of NABEP workers are bringing these fields back to life. There are real challenges ahead. Some of these fields have been producing for decades, and others have never been drilled. No company knows this ground better than NABEP, and no one is better positioned to unlock what it can produce."
NABEP directly employs more than 5,000 people and supports over 10,000 contractor jobs across Venezuela. Over the past two years, the company has grown production from about 18,000 barrels per day to more than 200,000, funded by roughly $1 billion of its own investment. The same strategy is being used to fund its ongoing production push, with hundreds of millions of dollars more being reinvested every month. As of Oct. 19, NABEP's total hydrocarbon production across its fields reached 223,509 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The visits come after NABEP's August agreement with the U.S. Departments of State and War to significantly expand oil production in Venezuela. NABEP holds the rights to commercialize more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in the country and is targeting production of more than 1 million barrels of oil per day in the near term.
About North American Blue Energy Partners
North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) is an independent oil exploration and production company operating in North and Latin America, with offices in Caracas, Maracaibo and Lechería. NABEP is committed to the responsible development of energy resources, the safety of its people and the prosperity of the communities where it operates. www.nabep.net
Media contact
press@nabep.com
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