US President Trump said late Tuesday that the interim authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, an announcement that follows the recent operation in which U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Interim authorities in Venezuela will turn over “high quality, sanctioned oil, to the United States” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump, in a social media post, said the oil will be sold at its market price, “and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America.”
The US will use the proceeds “to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States” he wrote.
Energy secretary Chris Wright has been directed to “execute this plan, immediately,” and the barrels “will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”
Trump has focused on Venezuela’s oil resources in the aftermath of the U.S. military operations. In a speech after Maduro was captured, Trump said that U.S. oil companies would end up investing billions of dollars to rehabilitate Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.
He didn’t disclose how much money he believes it would cost companies to repair and upgrade Venezuela’s aging oil infrastructure.
“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars,” Trump said. The cost will be “paid for by the oil companies directly,” but they will be “reimbursed,” he added.
Venezuela’s oil industry will need $183bn of oil and gas investment to ramp up production to levels seen before, analysts have warned.
Venezuela ‘needs $183bn’ to revive oil industry
In its analysis, the research and energy intelligence company Rystad Energy finds there is a technical path, but only by around 2040 and only with about $183bn of oil and gas investment from 2026, roughly equivalent to one year of current North America land capex.
Rystad Energy said around $53bn is needed over the next 15 years to keep production flat at 1.1 mbpd.
It said only 300-350 kbpd can be restored quickly with limited spend; growth beyond 1.4 mbpd requires sustained investment.
Reaching 3 mbpd by 2040 would require $183bn in total oil and gas capex, including heavy spending on pipelines and upgraders.
Rystad said at least $30-35bn of international capital would need to be committed early to make such a recovery “plausible.”
This spending would translate into around $156bn of service purchases, led by fabrication and construction, and hinges on deep governance reforms and renewed investor confidence in Venezuela’s investment climate.
China will continue importing Venezuelan oil
China remained committed to its energy partnership with Venezuela and stressed that the cooperation between the two countries was protected by international law, the foreign minister spokesperson Lin Jian in Beijing said on Monday.
Lin made the remarks in response to media questions on whether China has had any contact with Venezuelan acting president Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez and whether China will continue importing Venezuelan oil, following statements by the US that it will step up investment in Venezuela’s oil sector.
China-Venezuela cooperation is cooperation between two sovereign states and is protected by international law as well as the laws of both countries, Lin said.
Regardless of changes in Venezuela’s domestic political situation, China’s willingness to deepen practical cooperation with Venezuela across various fields will remain unchanged, the spokesperson noted, adding that the Chinese side’s legitimate interests in Venezuela will also be protected in accordance with the law.
