Trump says interim Venezuelan authorities to turn 30-50 million barrels of ‘high-quality, sanctioned oil’ to US

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday (local time) that the interim authorities in Venezuela will turn in between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States and said that while the oil will be sold at its market price, the money will be controlled by Trump to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.

In his post on Truth Social, the US President further said that he has asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute the plan immediately and that the oil would be taken by storage ships and brought directly to the unloading docks in the US.

“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America. 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! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

President Donald J. Trump announces Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/08qI7MvCpk

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 7, 2026

This major development comes shortly after on Saturday, Washington carried out a “large-scale strike against Venezuela”, and the deposed dictator, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and taken out of the country.

In a press conference hours after Maduro was “captured”, Trump said on Saturday (local time) said that the oil companies in the United States will “spend billions of dollars” to fix the broken oil infrastructure in Venezuela and “start making money” for the South American nation.

While addressing a press conference in Florida, Trump said the United States was in the “oil selling” business and would provide it to other countries interested in buying.

“We’re in the oil business. We’re going to sell it to them (other countries). We’ll be selling oil probably in much larger doses because they (Venezuela) couldn’t produce very much because their infrastructure was so bad. So we’ll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries, many of whom are using it now. But I would say many more will come”.

Trump said that the oil business in Venezuela has been a “total bust” and will be fixed with billions of dollars of investment by oil companies in the United States to fix the “badly broken oil infrastructure”. He also said that Venezuela’s poor infrastructure had limited its own oil production.

Maduro and Flores were captured in Caracas and flown out of the country in a joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement. Trump stated that Maduro and his wife have been indicted on charges of alleged “drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies” in the Southern District of New York and will face trial. (ANI)