Reuters: The agreement, which could be signed and made public soon, is expected to operate in a way that would let the U.S. government lock in a group of Venezuelan oilfields to be developed by American companies, the sources said, adding that the resulting supply would be guaranteed for the United States.
…A separate source said a “lease” was in consideration as the legal model to make the deal work, with a further auction or tender to allocate each one of the fields among U.S. producers…