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Business & Economy18 outlets ran this4 min read

US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian companies

North American Blue Energy Partners will control 17 projects under a new U.S.-Venezuela oil production agreement.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian companies

What this story says

  • U.S. oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) will take over oilfields in Venezuela previously operated by five Chinese companies and one Russian firm.
  • NABEP received 14 newly granted contracts from the Venezuelan government as part of a U.S.-Venezuela oil production agreement.
  • The U.S. government will hold a 35% stake in NABEP and have preferential access to 20% of its production.
  • NABEP plans to control 17 projects in Venezuela, including fields previously operated by China Concord Resources, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019.

Who covered it

Left 50%(4)Centre 37%(3)Right 13%(1)

Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 10 of the 18 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

78/100

Craft

65/100

Hype

15/100

18 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

Only 1 of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

U.S. oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) is to take over oilfields in Venezuela that were previously operated by five Chinese companies and one Russian firm. This takeover is part of a broad oil production agreement announced by President Donald Trump with Venezuela. NABEP received 14 newly granted contracts from the Venezuelan government as part of this arrangement.

Under the agreement, the U.S. government will hold a 35% stake in NABEP and have preferential access to 20% of the company's production. NABEP plans to control a total of 17 projects in Venezuela. Two of these projects were previously operated by China Concord Resources, a company sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019 for Iran-related activity. Other fields were operated by Sinopec, China National Petroleum Corp, and a Russian company.

Disagreement on specific Chinese companies

While Devdiscourse and CNBC report that five Chinese companies previously operated fields now taken over by NABEP, CNBC states that the outlet declined to identify the fifth Chinese company. Other reports do not specify the number of Chinese companies involved.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention the U.S. government's veto power over NABEP's board or the stipulation that a majority of directors must be American citizens. The centre-rated digests do not mention the U.S. government's veto power over NABEP's board or the stipulation that a majority of directors must be American citizens. The right-rated digest does not mention the U.S. government's veto power over NABEP's board or the stipulation that a majority of directors must be American citizens.

Tags:#VenezuelaOil#USChinaRelations#USRussiaRelations#EnergySecurity#NABEP

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 1 Sept 2026, 12:45, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

4 rated outlets

  • The left-rated reports highlighted the U.S. move into Venezuela's oil sector and the displacement of Russian and Chinese operators. United24's headline stated, "US Moves Into Venezuela’s Oil Fields, Displacing Russian and Chinese Operators." The China-Global South Project noted, "U.S. Oil Firm to Take Over Some Venezuelan Oilfields Previously Run by Chinese, Russian Companies, Officials Say." Asia Times framed the deal as one that "deepens China's energy security squeeze" and threatens to cut Chinese refiners off from discounted crude. CNBC, in its full report, mentioned that the arrangement "gives U.S. companies a foothold in some of Venezuela's strategically important oil assets while displacing Chinese and Russian interests."

Centre

3 rated outlets

  • The centre-rated reports focused on the U.S. firm taking over oilfields previously operated by Chinese and Russian companies. Devdiscourse's headline read, "EXCLUSIVE-Officials: US firm to take over some Venezuela oilfields previously run by Chinese, Russian firms." Reuters' digest stated, "The takeover will be part of a sweeping oil production agreement that President Donald Trump announced with Venezuela." Oil Price's headline was "U.S. Oil Deal Pushes China and Russia Out of Venezuelan Fields."

Right

1 rated outlet

  • The single right-rated report, from Anadolu Ajansı, focused on China's reaction to the deal. Its headline stated, "China seeks protection of ‘legitimate interests’ in Venezuela as US-backed firm takes over oil fields." The digest noted that Beijing responded after a Washington-backed company was granted control of projects previously operated by Chinese and Russian firms.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian…?
Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 50% are rated left, 37% are rated centre, 13% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 18. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian… left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian… biased?
US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian companies is one event reported by 18 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian…?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered US firm to take over Venezuelan oilfields from Chinese and Russian…?
18 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Which U.S. company is taking over Venezuelan oilfields?
The U.S. oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) is set to take over oilfields in Venezuela. This company will control 17 projects as part of a new agreement between the U.S. and Venezuela.
What stake does the U.S. government have in NABEP?
The U.S. government will hold a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners. Additionally, the U.S. will have preferential access to 20% of the company's oil production.
Which previous operators are being displaced?
Oilfields previously operated by five Chinese companies and one Russian firm will be taken over by NABEP. This includes fields operated by China Concord Resources, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019.

Read it at the source

18 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

4

Centre

3

Right

1

Not rated

10
Show 2 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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