Washington, January 17 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Friday said Venezuela has offered Washington 50 million barrels of oil worth USD 5.2 billion, an offer he said the United States has agreed to accept.
Addressing reporters during an event marking the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald J. Trump Boulevard, Trump said the oil needed to be processed immediately due to storage constraints in Venezuela. He said US officials were approached with the proposal and agreed to take the shipment, describing it as equivalent to USD 5.2 billion.
Trump also praised what he described as a strong relationship with Venezuela’s interim government, which was formed following the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation. He said the relationship had helped ease pressure in the country.
Following Maduro’s capture, Trump had earlier said Washington would oversee Venezuela during a transition period and would require full access to the country’s oil and other resources.
Trump’s remarks also appeared to confirm a recent report by New York-based outlet Semafor stating that the United States has made its first sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at about USD 500 million.
According to the Semafor report, revenue from the oil sales is currently being held in bank accounts controlled by the US government. An administration official said the primary account is located in Qatar.
As per a CNN report, Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil, about one-fifth of the world’s total reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Trump has previously said he plans to mobilize major US oil companies to invest billions of dollars in repairing Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, which he described as badly damaged.
On Wednesday, Trump said he had a lengthy call with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez. In a post on Truth Social, he described the prospective partnership between the United States and Venezuela as beneficial for both nations, adding that Venezuela would soon become prosperous again.
Rodriguez described the call as long, productive, and courteous, saying the two leaders discussed a bilateral agenda aimed at benefiting both countries.
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