US defends Trump's Venezuela oil deal

US officials on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump's oil deal with Venezuela, saying it would lower oil prices for Americans and counter Russian and Chinese influence on Washington's doorstep.

Venezuela's government-dominated National Assembly on Tuesday backed the multibillion-dollar agreement that grants the United States control of about one-fifth of Venezuelan reserves.

But there have been major questions about the deal, which comes as Washington maintains an unprecedented grip on the government in Caracas after toppling Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in January.

Trump met oil executives at the White House as he tries to tame gas prices that are spiralling because of the Iran war, with his administration hoping the Venezuela deal could help.

"We are unleashing American Energy Dominance!" Trump said on his Truth Social network after the meeting.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright was set to arrive in Venezuela later Tuesday, with a signing of the agreement set for Wednesday.

Oil giant Chevron is expected to announce a major expansion in Venezuela on the same day.

"First and foremost, (the deal) furthers the national interest of the United States," a US official told reporters, adding that "to buy oil at cost reliably for our country is critically important."

But the official insisted that it also "sets up Venezuela for long-term success" and denied that it would entrench the interim government led by Maduro's former vice president Delcy Rodriguez.

"This in no way impedes the democratic transition," added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Under US control

In Caracas, some opposition lawmakers abstained from the show-of-hands vote to approve the US deal, arguing that they should be able to view the written terms before making a decision.

"We need and are obliged to know what is written in the fine print," opposition lawmaker Luis Emilio Rondon said.

But National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said the money from the deal would help Venezuelans.

"Who benefits from this oil if it stays underground?" said Rodriguez.

Venezuela's Defence Minister Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez gave the deal full military backing, describing it as "prosperity and well-being for the country."

"Turning a political difference into an economic cooperation agreement is simply a decision to choose peace; it is not subordination," he stated.

The deal granting the US preferential access to 17 oil fields will notably see the takeover of facilities previously run by Russian and Chinese companies.

The US official said it was a "geopolitical opportunity to secure fields that primarily had largely been under the influence of Chinese and Russian companies, and allow them to instead be aligned with the United States."

One of the most controversial aspects is the involvement of Alejandro Betancourt, a Venezuelan businessman linked to shady dealings under Hugo Chavez's socialist administration.

Betancourt runs North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), Venezuela's second-largest private oil company, in which the US government is taking a 35 percent stake under the deal.

He was accused of involvement in a corruption scheme at Venezuela's state-run PDVSA oil company.

But the US official said that Betancourt was a "proven operator," while acknowledging that geopolitics sometimes involved dealing with "imperfect" characters.

"I'm not nominating anyone for sainthood here. What I am telling you is that this is a person that, in the past, has been helpful to the United States government," the official added.

Under the deal, NABEP will grant Washington the right to buy 20 percent of the oil pumped by the firm at production cost, the White House said.

US citizens must constitute a majority of the firm's board of directors, giving Washington effective control, and the US government will have veto power over its members.

The official said US control would end corruption in the run-down Venezuelan oil industry, while stopping Caracas from giving much of its supplies away to its ally Cuba.

"It was used as a personal piggy bank" by Maduro's government, the official said.

Cheaper oil is a priority for the Trump administration ahead of crucial US midterm elections in November, in which his Republican Party could lose control of Congress.