US to Get 50 Barrels of Oil from Venezuela at Market Price, Says Trump
Washington DC: U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that interim authorities in Venezuela will transfer between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States. He said the oil would be sold at market price but that the revenue would be controlled by him to ensure the money was used for the benefit of both the people of Venezuela and the United States.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to implement the plan immediately. He added that the oil will be transported by storage ships and brought directly to unloading ports in the United States.
“This Oil will be sold at the Market Price and this money will be controlled by me as President of the United States to ensure that it is used for the benefit of Venezuela and the people of the United States,” Trump wrote in announcing the move.
The announcement came shortly after ousted leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured and taken out of the country in what Washington described as a “large-scale attack against Venezuela” on Saturday.
Hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump said U.S. oil companies would spend billions of dollars to repair Venezuela’s damaged oil infrastructure and help the country start generating revenue again.
Speaking at a press conference in Florida, Trump said the US was now in the business of “selling oil” and would supply Venezuelan oil to other countries that wanted to buy it. He said that production will increase significantly with the completion of infrastructure repairs.
Trump stated that Venezuela’s oil sector has “completely collapsed” due to poor infrastructure and that production is severely limited. He claimed that this would be solved with large investments by US oil companies.
Maduro and Flores were captured in Caracas and sent out of the country in a joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement. Both have been indicted and will be tried in the Southern District of New York for alleged drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies, Trump said.
