New York [US], January 15 (ANI): The United States has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil worth USD 500 million, according to the Donald Trump administration, as reported by New York-based news outlet Semafor.
The development follows the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro 11 days ago. After the development, Trump said the US is taking control of Venezuela’s oil reserves and would recruit American companies to invest billions of dollars to refurbish the country’s deteriorated oil industry, CNN reported.
On January 9, Trump signed an executive order outlining how his administration plans to block US courts or creditors from seizing any revenue collected from Venezuelan oil and held in US Treasury accounts.
According to the Semafor report, revenue from the oil sales is currently being held in bank accounts controlled by the US government, as specified in Friday’s order. A senior administration official said the primary account is located in Qatar.
“President Trump brokered a historic energy deal with Venezuela, immediately following the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro, that will benefit the American and Venezuelan people,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement.
She added that the Trump administration is facilitating discussions with oil companies willing to make unprecedented investments to restore Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the government would oversee the sale of the oil, with proceeds deposited into accounts controlled by Washington. Fox News reported that additional oil sales are expected in the coming days and weeks.
According to CNN, Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil, representing about one-fifth of the world’s proven reserves, as per data from the US Energy Information Administration. Trump has previously said major US oil companies would be mobilized to invest billions of dollars to repair Venezuela’s damaged oil infrastructure.
“We are going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure and start making money for the country,” Trump said earlier.
Meanwhile, Trump said on Wednesday that he held a “long call” with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one for all. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before.”
Rodriguez described the call as “long, productive and courteous” and said the two leaders discussed a bilateral agenda aimed at benefiting both countries. Rodriguez assumed the acting presidency after Maduro was captured by US forces on January 3.
“I held a long and courteous telephone conversation with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, conducted within a framework of mutual respect, in which we addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments,” Rodriguez said in a post on X.
After Maduro’s capture, Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela during a transition period and would require “total access” to the country’s oil and other strategic assets. (ANI)
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