Overview
- President Trump told reporters on Monday that the U.S. has sold or collected more than $13 billion from Venezuelan oil since taking control of the country’s exports earlier this year.
- The administration has not produced a transparent, verifiable accounting of the proceeds and the president repeatedly declined to give a clear explanation of where the money has gone.
- Investigations by the Financial Times and earlier reporting by Semafor estimate the roughly $13 billion figure and say some early proceeds were routed to an offshore account in Qatar, details that remain unresolved.
- Lawmakers and watchdogs are pressing for congressional oversight and legal review of the program, asking how the funds are held, what legal authority allows their use, and whether any revenue has reached Venezuelan civilians after recent earthquakes.
- The U.S. control of Venezuela’s oil follows the January overthrow of Nicolás Maduro and, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, sales of about 150 million barrels have underpinned the revenue estimates, a development that raises geopolitical and humanitarian questions about how export proceeds are managed.