EXCLUSIVE-Under US-Venezuela oil deal, some Chinese and Russian operators lose out, officials say

U.S. ​oil company North American Blue Energy ​Partners will take over some ‌oilfields previously controlled ​by five Chinese companies and a Russian firm, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday.

The takeover will be ‌part of a sweeping oil production agreement that President Donald Trump announced with Venezuela, they said. The projects were among 14 contracts newly granted to U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners, according ‌to the officials. NABEP was previously owned by U.S. oil tycoon Harry Sargeant and ‌is now controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt.

Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. had secured access to some 64 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves through a partnership with private business. The arrangement gives ⁠U.S. ​companies a foothold in ⁠some of Venezuela's strategically important oil assets while displacing Chinese and Russian interests that have long played a ⁠major role in the country's energy sector. It also gives Washington a direct role in determining ​who produces and sells Venezuela's oil, as the Trump administration seeks to reshape the ⁠country's oil industry and bring its vast reserves closer to U.S. economic and geopolitical interests.

NABEP is expected to ⁠control ​a total of 17 projects in Venezuela that it plans to develop and ultimately use to supply oil to the U.S. Fourteen of those projects will be ⁠newly granted by the Venezuelan government, the officials said. Five of the 14 contracts have been ⁠operated by ⁠Chinese companies under a model promoted by then-President Nicolas Maduro, while one was previously operated by a Russian company, the officials said.

(Reporting By Steve ‌Holland and ‌Jarrett Renshaw; additonal reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing ​by David Gregorio)