Venezuela to Give U.S. Up to 50 Million Barrels of Oil, Trump Says
Figure would represent a significant amount of all the oil the country produces annually
- President Trump stated Venezuela’s interim authorities will provide 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S.
- Trump announced the oil proceeds, controlled by him, would benefit both Venezuela and the United States.
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright was directed to arrange for storage ships to transport the oil to the U.S.
President Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela’s interim authorities will give the U.S. between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil, with proceeds overseen by the White House to benefit both countries.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he has directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to carry out his plan for the oil to be taken by storage ships and transported to the U.S.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!,” said Trump.
Trump’s post offered the most detail to date about how he intends to make good on his promise to extract oil from the country.
Venezuela’s Ministry of Information didn’t respond to requests for comment.
After the U.S. captured strongman Nicolás Maduro, Trump announced the U.S. would take control of Venezuela’s oil reserves and bring American oil companies into the country to rebuild its oil industry and infrastructure. “What we want to do is fix up the oil, fix up the country, bring the country back, and then have elections,” Trump told reporters earlier this week.
On Friday, the president is expected to meet with representatives from the three largest U.S. oil companies—Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil—as well as other domestic producers at the White House to discuss investments in Venezuela.
The announced influx of barrels would be good news for Gulf Coast refineries that are configured to run heavy crude including from Venezuela—and by extension for U.S. consumers of diesel and gasoline and other refined products, analysts said. The plants in recent years have been looking for new sources of heavy crude.
“That’s a pretty good slug of oil if it goes in the market right away,” said John Auers, managing director of refining analytics at consulting firm RBN Energy.
The value of the barrels would be between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion based on Tuesday’s benchmark for heavy crude used on the Gulf Coast, Auers said.
The amount of oil Trump says Venezuela will give the U.S. is significant—up to 15% of all the crude Venezuela produces in a year. It would take as many as 25 of the largest oil tankers in the world to transport the oil.
Trump said the oil will be taken via ship to docks in the U.S.
The latest plan comes as Trump threatened the country’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, to cooperate or face consequences. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump said on Sunday.