US President Donald Trump has claimed that Venezuela will “turn over” approximately $2 billion worth of crude oil to the United States under a new arrangement that would redirect supplies away from China and ease pressure on Venezuela’s constrained oil sector, even as political tensions between Washington and Caracas remain sharply elevated.
In a statement posted online on Tuesday, Trump said the oil would be sold at prevailing market prices, with revenues placed under US control. “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.
Neither Venezuela’s government nor state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) immediately commented on Trump’s remarks, which come just days after a dramatic escalation in US-Venezuela relations following the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by US forces.
Venezuela currently has millions of barrels of crude loaded on tankers and stored at ports that it has been unable to ship due to a blockade imposed by Trump as part of a broader pressure campaign. That campaign culminated over the weekend in a US military operation that removed Maduro from power and installed his former vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim president following a ruling by Venezuela’s supreme court.
Senior Venezuelan officials have described Maduro’s capture as a “kidnapping” and accused Washington of attempting to seize control of the country’s vast oil reserves, the largest proven reserves in the world. However, Trump’s announcement suggests that the new government in Caracas is, at least partially, engaging with US demands to open the oil sector to American firms or face the threat of further military intervention.
Trump has said he wants Rodríguez’s interim administration to grant the US government and private companies “total access” to Venezuela’s oil industry, a move that would represent a fundamental restructuring of the country’s energy sovereignty.
According to Trump, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been tasked with executing the oil transfer, which would involve taking crude directly from tankers and shipping it to US ports. People familiar with the matter said earlier on Tuesday that fulfilling the deal could initially require diverting cargoes originally destined for China.
China has been Venezuela’s largest crude buyer for more than a decade, a role that expanded significantly after Washington imposed sweeping sanctions in 2020 on companies involved in trading Venezuelan oil. Those sanctions effectively pushed PDVSA out of Western markets and forced Caracas to rely heavily on Chinese intermediaries and opaque shipping networks.
Global markets reacted swiftly to Trump’s announcement. US crude prices fell more than 1.5%, reflecting expectations that additional Venezuelan oil would enter the US market. At present, Venezuelan crude flows to the United States are controlled almost entirely by Chevron, PDVSA’s primary joint-venture partner, operating under a special US authorisation.
Chevron has continued exporting between 100,000 and 150,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil in recent weeks, making it the only company to ship crude without major disruption during the blockade. It remains unclear whether the new arrangement would expand Chevron’s role, allow additional US companies to enter the market, or place oil exports directly under US government management.
Crucially, it is also uncertain whether Venezuela would gain any access to the proceeds from the oil sales. US sanctions have frozen PDVSA’s bank accounts, excluded the company from the global financial system, and blocked its ability to conduct transactions in US dollars, raising questions about how — or if — revenues would reach the Venezuelan state.
Political tensions remain high. Just hours before Trump’s announcement, Rodríguez struck a defiant tone in a nationally televised address, rejecting US claims that Washington now governs Venezuela. “No external agent governs Venezuela,” she said, directly challenging Trump’s assertion that the US would oversee the country following Maduro’s removal.
Rodríguez’s remarks marked another sharp shift in her public messaging. After being sworn in on Saturday, she issued a conciliatory statement late Sunday inviting the US government to pursue “an agenda of cooperation.” By Tuesday, however, her language had hardened significantly.
She described Saturday’s US strike — the first large-scale American military operation on South American soil in decades — as a “terrible military aggression” and a “criminal attack.” Rodríguez said the operation’s outcome, which included the detention of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was “absolutely illegal” and in violation of international law.
“We are a people who do not surrender, who do not give up, and we are here, governing together with the people,” Rodríguez said. “The government of Venezuela rules in our country — no one else.”
As Washington moves to translate military leverage into economic and energy gains, the durability of any oil agreement remains uncertain. The coming weeks are likely to test whether cooperation on crude exports can coexist with Venezuela’s insistence on sovereignty — or whether the oil deal becomes another flashpoint in an already volatile confrontation.
