Trump Admin To Control Venezuelan Oil Sales

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday the Trump administration will oversee the sale of Venezuelan oil and control the proceeds under a new export plan designed to get crude flowing again and stabilize production.
"Yes, we are trying something radically different," Wright told an audience at Goldman Sachs' annual energy conference in Miami. "Instead of the oil being blockaded as it is right now, we are going to let the oil flow, selling it to U.S. refineries and markets around the world to improve oil supplies."
The revelation follows President Donald Trump’s Tuesday evening announcement that Venezuela would transfer up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, worth about $2.8 billion at current market prices.

Wright said the sales would be fully supervised by the U.S. government, with proceeds deposited into accounts controlled by Washington. 
"From there, those funds can flow back to Venezuela and benefit the Venezuelan people," he said, adding that the U.S. needs to maintain leverage over the Latin American country in order to "drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela."

Venezuela’s oil industry was once the backbone of the nation’s wealth, anchoring an economy built around energy exports. The country holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, surpassing established energy giants including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait. 
Combined with its strategic Caribbean coastline, that vast energy wealth once positioned Venezuela as an economic powerhouse before years of mismanagement and sanctions hollowed out the economy. Source: Energy Institute: Statistical Review of World Energy (2025)

Wright said the administration is now working directly with Caracas to restart exports, beginning with crude currently stranded in storage and offshore floating facilities.
"The crude that’s backed up in storage and offshore floating storage, we’re going to get that crude moving again and sell it, just like we do in our businesses," he said. "Then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace."
He added that the U.S. would supply the diluent, a lighter oil needed to thin Venezuela's heavy crude, to enable continued production.
"As we make progress with the government, we will enable the import of parts, equipment and services, to prevent the industry from collapsing, stabilize production and then, as quickly as possible, to start to see it grow again," Wright said. 
"In the long run, we want to create the conditions for major American companies, that were there before, maybe they weren't before, but want to go, will go in again."
"The resources are immense," he added. "This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse, that’s the plan."

Meanwhile, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the son of captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, has pledged his "unconditional support" to the newly sworn-in interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who served as his father's vice president.

"My unconditional support for the very hard task you've been given," Maduro Guerra, often called "Nicolasito," said, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). "Count on me, count on my family, count on our firmness in taking the right steps at the forefront of this responsibility that is now yours."

Maduro Guerra made the remarks during his first public appearance since his father and stepmother, Cilia Flores, were captured by U.S. forces and extradited to New York. The ousted Venezuelan president’s son, who is himself a legislator, joined other ruling-party lawmakers for a planned swearing-in ceremony of the National Assembly for a term that will last until 2031, The Associated Press reported. 
Nicolás Maduro Guerra, son of ousted President Nicolás Maduro, speaks to demonstrators on the day Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was formally sworn in as Venezuela's interim president in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 5, 2026. (Maxwell Briceno/Reuters)
Maduro Guerra condemned the U.S. action, calling it a "kidnapping" and saying that "no country is safe."

"If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today, it's Venezuela. Tomorrow, it could be any nation that refuses to submit," Maduro Guerra said, according to the CBC. "This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability."

Rodríguez, who was sworn-in on Monday, has served as vice president since 2018. Despite her objection to the U.S. military action that led to her former boss' arrest, Rodríguez has vowed to work with the Trump administration.

"I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland," Rodríguez said, according to the 
Maduro and Flores were captured by U.S. forces early Saturday morning at their home in Caracas, Venezuela. The Trump administration announced the operation on Saturday after successful "large-scale" military strikes targeting the Venezuelan government. The dictator and his wife are now being held in New York while they wait to face narco-terrorism charges against them. The historic move attracted praise and backlash across the globe, with some questioning the legality of the operation. At the opening session of the National Assembly's new legislative term, Delcy Rodríguez is sworn in as acting president of Venezuela, pledging loyalty to Nicolás Maduro and to Hugo Chávez in Caracas on Jan. 5, 2026. (Venezuelan National Assembly/Anadol
China and Russia were among powers that condemned the U.S. operation in Venezuela, while some regional allies, including Argentina, applauded the move.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her fight for freedom in Venezuela — praised the operation, saying Jan. 3 will go down as a "day that justice defeated tyranny."

"It's a milestone, and it's not only huge for the Venezuelan people and our future, I think it's a huge step for humanity, for freedom, and human dignity," Machado said during an appearance on "Hannity."