Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Gregory Meeks, requested detailed explanations from the Trump administration about the scope and foundations of a deal with a private oil company in Venezuela. In a letter sent to Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, they also demanded that the deal’s full contract be submitted to Congress.
The energy agreement between the Trump administration and Delcy Rodríguez’s interim government was announced at the end of August. The arrangement gives Washington a significant stake in North American Blue Energy Partners and facilitates the implementation of the energy agreement between the two countries.
Lawmakers question the deal’s financial and legal foundations
The lawmakers requested explanations of the financial and legal foundations of the arrangement negotiated with Rodríguez, as well as its foreign-policy dimension. In the joint letter, the administration’s operation in Venezuela was described as “a striking imitation of the economic practices of the Maduro regime.”

The lawmakers described Rodríguez as Venezuela’s unelected leader. They also claimed that Rodríguez and President Nicolás Maduro lost the 2024 presidential election and that Maduro was captured by U.S. forces earlier this year.

Questions went unanswered at September 14 briefing
Bipartisan lawmakers raised their questions about the deal at a classified committee briefing held on September 14. Saying they had not received the answers they were seeking, the members subsequently requested detailed information from the administration in an official letter.
The energy agreement covers the development of 17 oil fields with approximately 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.