Two tankers carrying 1 million barrels of Venezuelan crude produced by North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) have arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas, the company said in a corrected statement issued through PR Newswire on Tuesday, October 27. Yaani: 1 million barrels means 10 lakh barrels of crude in a single first shipment.

Source: NABEP statement via PR Newswire (corrected release)

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Port of Corpus Christi on Tuesday to see one of the newly arrived tankers, NABEP said. “They've sent me as a gift a boatload of a million barrels of oil, and I'm giving that to the United States of America,” Trump told reporters, according to Reuters reporting carried by Life News Agency. A White House official said the oil would be sold by the government to refineries run by Exxon Mobil and Venezuelan-owned Citgo Petroleum, Reuters reported. The White House said on X: “The first shipment from the historic Venezuela oil deal arrives TODAY in Corpus Christi, Texas!”

The cargo marks the start of NABEP's larger deal with the US Departments of State and War. Under that arrangement, the US government has the right to buy 20% of NABEP's production at cost, with no markup, and holds a 35% equity stake in the company's parent firm, NABEP said. The company says it holds rights to commercialise more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in Venezuela — yaani 65 billion barrels means about 6,500 crore barrels — and is targeting production of more than 1 million barrels a day in the near term. Its production has passed 223,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, it said.

1 millionbarrels (10 lakh barrels) in the first cargo, on two tankers
65 billion+barrels of proven reserves NABEP says it can commercialise (about 6,500 crore barrels)
35%US government equity stake in NABEP's parent company
20%of NABEP production the US may buy at cost, with no markup

What is solid

  • Two NABEP tankers carrying 1 million barrels of Venezuelan crude arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas, on October 27, 2026.
  • Trump and Rubio visited the port to view a tanker, and Reuters reported a White House official saying the oil would be sold to refineries run by Exxon Mobil and Citgo Petroleum.
  • The US holds a right to buy 20% of NABEP's production at cost and a 35% stake in its parent company, under the company's August agreement with the Departments of State and War.

What is only claimed

  • Whether the first cargo was free: NABEP's corrected statement says it delivered the first million barrels at no cost to the US taxpayer, and Trump called it a gift. The Washington Post reported the shipment was not free but deeply discounted — at US$30 a barrel, less than a third of the current market price — citing two people familiar with it. NABEP's statement was revised after release.

“This cargo reached Texas in just over a week. Crude from the Middle East can take more than a month,” NABEP chief executive Alejandro Betancourt said. “This first shipment since the US-NABEP deal will be followed by thousands of such arrivals, and each one shows the world that Venezuela is back as a dependable energy supplier, with the United States as its anchor buyer.” NABEP said it directly employs more than 5,000 people in Venezuela and supports over 10,000 contractor jobs — figures given by the company itself.

According to Reuters, the pact was struck after US forces captured and removed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power in January, and it handed NABEP 14 additional oilfields on top of the three it already operated, without a competitive process. The arrival came as Trump campaigned for Republican candidates in Texas ahead of next week's midterm elections, the Washington Post reported. What happens next is the pace of follow-on cargoes — and whether Congress, which has already questioned the deal's terms, accepts the company's and the White House's account of this first one.