US President Donald Trump has said that Venezuela’s interim authorities “will be turning over between 30 and 50 million barrels of high-quality, sanctioned oil” to the United States following a US-backed military operation that removed President Nicolás Maduro from power last weekend.
In a post on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, Trump said the oil would be sold at market price and that he would oversee the proceeds as president.
“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,” he wrote.
Trump added that he had directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute the plan “immediately”, noting that the oil would be transported by storage ships and delivered directly to unloading docks in the US.
His comments came a day after Delcy Rodríguez, formerly Venezuela’s vice-president, was sworn in as interim president.
Maduro has since been taken to the United States to face drug-trafficking and weapons charges.
The US president has argued that reviving Venezuela’s oil industry would benefit American consumers.
“Having a Venezuela that’s an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down,” Trump told NBC News on Monday.
Trump has also claimed that US oil companies could restore Venezuela’s energy sector within 18 months and that major investments would soon flow into the country.
However, analysts have previously told the BBC that rebuilding Venezuela’s oil output could require tens of billions of dollars and take up to a decade to materialise.
Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of oil — the largest proven reserves in the world — but production has steadily declined since the early 2000s due to underinvestment and infrastructure decay.
Its crude is also heavy and costly to refine.
Only one major US oil firm, Chevron, currently operates in Venezuela.
Responding to Trump’s plans, a Chevron spokesperson said the company “remains focused on the safety and well-being of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets,” adding that it operates “in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”
Other US oil majors struck a cautious tone. ConocoPhillips said it was “monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability,” while Exxon declined immediate comment.
Trump has also justified the seizure of Maduro by alleging that Venezuela “unilaterally seized and stole American oil,” a claim echoed by Vice-President JD Vance.
However, analysts note that the issue is complex, pointing to Venezuela’s nationalisation of its oil industry in 1976 and increased state control under President Hugo Chávez in 2007.
In 2019, a World Bank tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips $8.7 billion in compensation for assets taken during that period — a sum that remains unpaid.
