nicolmiranda9 (nicolmiranda)

The deal In an agreement that the White House on Monday called the “biggest oil deal in world history,” the Pentagon’s little-known Office of Strategic Capital will acquire up to a 35% equity stake in a company that owns North American Blue Energy Partners, the second-largest private oil producer in Venezuela. NABEP plans to invest $100 billion in new infrastructure to produce oil from its fields, according to the White House. The company is controlled by the family of Alejandro Betancourt López, a controversial international businessman based in the UK. Betancourt has been investigated – but not yet charged – in Spain on fraud and money laundering charges, and a similar investigation closed in Switzerland without charges. A spokesperson for NABEP did not respond to a request for comment. The White House said NABEP will be subject to US laws, and the US government will be able to veto any board member appointment.

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Why Venezuela probably won’t solve America’s emergency oil problem President Donald Trump’s unusual Venezuela oil deal is coming into fuller view, but his plan to use the proceeds to replenish America’s diminished emergency energy supplies remains a head-scratcher. Trump over the past few days said America’s new majority ownership stake in 17 Venezuelan oil fields gives the United States access to 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves – more than double America’s own reserves. Among the initiative’s objectives is “topping out” the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is at its lowest level since November 1982, when Ronald Reagan was president. The Venezuelan oil that the new public-private joint venture produces will be used to fill up the SPR, Trump claimed, after the United States released 130 million of the 172 million authorized barrels to shore up supply during the Iran war.

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China launches new amphibious assault ship in a race to rival US military China has launched its first next-generation amphibious assault ship, adding a powerful cutting-edge warship to the country’s fast-expanding navy as it races to rival the military power of the United States. The Type 076 amphibious assault ship entered the water on Friday at a launch ceremony at a shipyard in Shanghai, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement. Named Sichuan after a southwestern Chinese province, the independently developed ship is hailed as a “key asset” for advancing the Navy’s transformation and enhancing its long-range operational capabilities, according to the statement.

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Was Lindsay Clancy in control of her actions? A health expert discusses the evidence CNN's Abby Philly speaks with Reproductive Psychiatrist Dr. Catherine Birndorf and a panel of legal experts about the Lindsay Clancy case and the questions it raises about maternal mental health and criminal justice.

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