EL7.AI
CommoditiesMedium•23 October 2026•
4 min read

NABEP Deploys 11 Workover Rigs, Targets Production of More Than 1 Million Barrels a Day in Venezuela

Key Facts

1NABEP said it is targeting production of more than 1 million barrels a day under the agreement.
2The company said its production rose from about 18,000 to more than 200,000 barrels a day over two years.
311 well workover rigs, each with a capacity of 550 horsepower, are being deployed.
4Two new drilling rigs, each with a capacity of 1,500 horsepower, arrived on October 7, 2026.
5The White House said the concessions cover 17 fields for 100 years and about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.

North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) announced the deployment of 11 rigs for well maintenance and repair in Venezuela, an operational step accompanying the arrival of two new drilling rigs on October 7. Each workover rig has a capacity of 550 horsepower, while each drilling rig has a capacity of 1,500 horsepower, according to a World Oil report published on October 13. The company said the new workover rigs are the first of their kind to operate in Venezuelan fields in more than 15 years. The report added that other equipment is expected soon, without specifying a date or quantity. The equipment deployment is part of a broader expansion by the company, which aims to raise production to more than 1 million barrels a day under the agreement announced in September.

This step differs from the earlier draft’s portrayal of a production increase of about 20,000 barrels a day since August: NABEP said its production rose from about 18,000 barrels a day to more than 200,000 over two years, through its September 2026 announcement. The company attributed this growth to an investment of about $1 billion that it funded itself over the same period. The company provided these figures in its announcement, and the available evidence does not include an independent measurement of them. NABEP said its next expansion aims to exceed 1 million barrels a day, a level more than five times the production it said it had reached after the previous expansion. S&P Global reported that the company plans to invest about $100 billion to expand its Venezuelan operations and meet its production target.

On equipment, NABEP said it had purchased 60 rigs, 30 steam boilers and 70 pieces of heavy equipment as of October 13. Equipment already delivered includes the two drilling rigs that reached Venezuela on October 7, while the 11 workover rigs are being deployed. These figures place the purchases within a large-scale equipment plan, but do not clarify how much has entered service or when all the equipment will be operational. The workover rigs are intended to repair wells, while the two drilling rigs are each rated at 1,500 horsepower. According to World Oil, the company said additional equipment is expected soon, but the report does not establish that three more drilling rigs will be activated or that the number of active rigs will double.

The expansion is linked to an agreement described in a White House fact sheet published on August 31, 2026. The administration said the transitional authorities granted NABEP 100-year concessions in 17 fields containing about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. In its September 1 announcement, the company said the deal was expected to involve an investment of about $100 billion to market more than 65 billion barrels of P1 reserves. The investment and reserves figures here are based on the company’s announcement and the White House, not on an independent estimate in the available materials. The Associated Press reported that the 17 fields include sites nearing depletion as well as undeveloped ones. It also quoted experts saying that some fields in the Orinoco Belt face major technical challenges, making their redevelopment one of the implementation difficulties surrounding the project.

The agreement’s terms include U.S. rights in the company and its production, according to the White House fact sheet: a 35% stake in the parent company for the War Department’s Office of Strategic Capital, and a right for the State Department to purchase 20% of production at cost. They also include the right of first purchase over the remaining 80% of production. These terms link the long-term concessions to specified ownership and marketing rights, according to details published by the U.S. administration in August. The available evidence does not provide details on the financing schedule for the planned investment or the stages for reaching the production target. As workover rigs continue to be deployed and drilling equipment arrives, the company’s stated goal remains to exceed 1 million barrels a day under the agreement, with no specific timetable for achieving it in the available information.