U.S. Sale Of Venezuela’s Oil Hits $13 Billion Since Trump’s Takeover

President Donald Trump revealed on Monday that sales of Venezuela’s oil by his administration have generated more than $13 billion since the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, claiming that the revenue has effectively “paid for that war many times over”. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump was responding to a Financial Times’ report that came out a week ago that estimated that roughly $13 billion in Venezuelan oil revenue is held in frozen U.S. Treasury accounts as a black box with minimal public accounting. Back in April, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Semafor that the U.S. had sold around 150 million barrels of Venezuelan oil since Trump seized the country’s oil assets. Venezuela’s heavy and sour crude is typically sold at a discount of up to $15 per barrel relative to Brent crude.When pressed on where the money went, Trump stated it is used toward "running the country" and suggested diverting future funds to the U.S. military subject to congressional approval. While initial funds were moved to an offshore Qatari account to avoid creditor seizures, State Department and Treasury officials have reported that oil proceeds are now held in a U.S. Treasury-managed Citibank account, with congressional leaders demanding a full audit of the accounts. In June, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that the oil sales are audited by KPMG on a continuous basis. Critics have pointed out that despite devastating earthquakes hitting Venezuela, only $386 million in official disaster aid has transferred. State Department official Michael Kozak told Congress in April that ~$3 billion had been disbursed to pay Venezuelan government salaries and fund oil infrastructure, leaving roughly $10 billion reportedly unaccounted for.While lawmakers continue pressing for a full accounting of the proceeds, the asset generating those revenues has continued to appreciate. One of the clearest examples is Texas, where refiners are now processing the highest volumes of Venezuelan crude since before the first Trump administration imposed sanctions in 2019. Gulf Coast refiners have sharply increased purchases after prolonged disruptions to Middle Eastern crude supplies forced them to replace heavy sour barrels from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Venezuela’s oil industry has expanded output, increased exports and fundamentally changed the way it sells crude into international markets since the Trump administration assumed control of the country’s oil assets. Earlier this month, we reported that global refiners have begun bypassing commodity traders to negotiate directly with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), with Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) already signing direct supply agreements and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) expected to follow. European energy majors Repsol (OTCQX:REPYY) and Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) have also expanded direct liftings of Merey 16 crude, while India’s Reliance Industries has established a direct supply chain into its heavy-crude refining system.Those commercial relationships have coincided with a sharp increase in production. Venezuela’s oil output rose from roughly 820,000 bpd in January to 1.23 million bpd by June, while exports reached 1.25 million bpd, their highest level since 2019 sanctions.Much of that recovery has been driven by Venezuela’s 2026 Hydrocarbons Law, which dismantled PDVSA’s mandatory majority ownership model and opened upstream projects to greater private participation while lowering fiscal terms for new investment.Even so, Rystad Energy estimates that aging infrastructure and severe shortages of oilfield services will cap near-term growth. The consultancy expects production gains through 2028 to come from mature fields and estimates that restoring Venezuela’s historical 3 million bpd production capacity would require roughly $183 billion in cumulative investment through 2040.By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.comSaudi Crude Tanker Goes Dark to Slip Through Bab el-MandebHormuz Tanker Crossings Sink to Lowest Level Since May as War Risk SpikesADNOC Issues Seventh Crude Tender Since June Despite Hormuz, Red Sea Risks