• Trump administration will market Venezuelan oil indefinitely and hold proceeds in US Treasury accounts
• Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA says it is negotiating terms similar to existing Chevron arrangement
• UN experts warn Venezuela’s oil reserves must not be cynically exploited through military intervention

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The United States will maintain control over Venezuelan oil sales indefinitely and manage all revenue through government-controlled accounts, Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced Wednesday at a Goldman Sachs energy conference in Miami.

Wright’s remarks represent the most detailed explanation yet of how the Trump administration plans to control Venezuela’s oil sector following the January 3 military operation that removed President Nicolás Maduro from power.

“We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela — first this backed up stored oil, and then indefinitely going forward we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace.”

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The plan begins with sales of between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude currently held in storage, valued at approximately $2.8 billion at current market prices. All proceeds from these sales will be deposited into accounts controlled by the US government at globally recognized banks, according to the Department of Energy.

Revenue Control and Distribution Framework

Wright emphasized that maintaining control over oil sales provides Washington with leverage to drive changes in Venezuela’s governance and economic structure.

“We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela.”

The Energy Secretary said funds would “flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people,” though he provided no specific timeline or distribution mechanism for how revenue would be allocated. Wright did not detail what percentage of oil sales proceeds would ultimately return to Venezuela.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined a three-phase approach during a Wednesday briefing with lawmakers. The first phase focuses on stabilizing oil sales and controlling revenue distribution to prevent corruption. Phase two involves ensuring American and Western companies gain market access while pursuing national reconciliation. The third phase contemplates an eventual transition, though Rubio offered no specifics on timing or governance structure.

Venezuelan Response and Ongoing Negotiations

Venezuela’s state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) released a statement Wednesday confirming it is in negotiations with Washington regarding crude sales. The company said discussions are progressing “within the framework of the commercial relations that exist between both countries” and using terms similar to those established with Chevron, currently the only US company exporting Venezuelan oil.

“This process is being carried out under similar schemes to those in place with international companies, such as Chevron, and is based on a strictly commercial transaction, with criteria of legality, transparency, and benefit for both parties.”

However, PDVSA board member Wills Rangel told Reuters that Venezuela expects to receive international market prices for its crude.

“If they want to buy it, they will have it in due time, sold at the international price. Not the way [Trump] intends, as if that oil belongs to them because we supposedly owe them. We do not owe anything to the United States.”

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, sworn in following Maduro’s removal, has not publicly commented on the oil control arrangement. Sources familiar with the administration’s demands told CNN that Washington has required Venezuela to sever ties with China, Iran, Russia and Cuba, and to partner exclusively with the United States on oil production.

Production Challenges and Infrastructure Investment

Venezuela’s oil sector has deteriorated dramatically over the past two decades due to chronic underinvestment, corruption, and sanctions. The country currently produces approximately 1 million barrels per day, down from 3.5 million barrels daily in the late 1990s.

Wright estimated that output could increase by several hundred thousand barrels per day in the short to medium term with proper investment and equipment imports. Returning to historical production levels would require an estimated $10 billion annually over the next decade, according to Francisco Monaldi, director of Latin American energy policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The US oil industry has expressed limited public interest in major Venezuelan investments given modest oil prices and opportunities elsewhere. Wright said he has begun discussions with companies that previously operated in Venezuela, asking what conditions would be necessary for them to invest billions in developing oil fields and infrastructure.

International Reaction and Legal Questions

UN human rights experts issued a statement warning that Venezuela’s vast natural resources “must not be cynically exploited through thinly veiled pretexts to legitimise military aggression, foreign occupation, or regime-change strategies.”

The experts emphasized that the US position contravenes “the right of peoples to self-determination and their associated sovereignty over natural resources, cornerstones of international human rights law.”

Brazil, Spain, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay issued a joint statement expressing “profound concern and firm rejection of the military actions carried out unilaterally in Venezuelan territory” by the United States. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez characterized the intervention as setting a “terrible and very dangerous precedent.”

Conversely, several Trump allies in Latin America supported the operation. Argentina’s President Javier Milei hailed the action as a victory for freedom, while El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele signaled support through social media.

Gregory Brew, senior analyst on Iran and energy at Eurasia Group, suggested the US announcement hints at “a return to the concessionary system” that existed before the 1970s, when foreign companies controlled oil production in developing nations under agreements with host governments.

Will the Trump administration’s unprecedented control over another nation’s oil wealth reshape international norms around resource sovereignty and military intervention?

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