On the evening of January 6, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Venezuela’s interim government would transfer between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the oil would be sold at market prices, and that “the proceeds will be controlled by me, as President of the United States, to ensure they are used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States!”
“I have instructed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to implement this plan immediately,” Mr. Trump wrote. “The oil will be transported by tankers and delivered directly to receiving ports in the United States.”
Mr. Trump said the oil being transferred to the U.S. is of “high quality” and is oil that is “currently under sanctions.”
The announcement came after U.S. forces arrested Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas and transferred them to New York. The two are facing federal charges related to an alleged drug-trafficking conspiracy.
The Wall Street Journal reported on January 6 that Mr. Trump is expected to meet representatives of major U.S. oil companies such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil, along with other domestic producers, at the White House on January 9 “to discuss making major investments in Venezuela’s oil sector.”
Mr. Trump has previously said that U.S. oil companies would ultimately invest billions of dollars to restore and upgrade Venezuela’s oil production capacity.
Currently, Chevron is the only U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela. In the mid-2000s, assets belonging to ConocoPhillips and Exxon were nationalized by the Venezuelan government under President Hugo Chávez.
Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty at their court appearance on January 5 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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