\n<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump points to the crowd as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington.<\/span>Evan Vucci\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n President Trump\u2019s plans <\/span>for Venezuela\u2019s oil industry, insofar as there are concrete plans, appear to be solidifying. <\/p>\n On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright indicated that the United States will control the flow of Venezuelan oil \u201cindefinitely.\u201d The announcement came hours after President Trump revealed that Venezuela would be \u201cturning over\u201d up to 50 million barrels of oil to the US, with revenue he intended to personally control.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n With oil trading at roughly $56 per barrel<\/a>, the initial sale could be worth up to $2.8 billion.<\/p>\n Speaking at an energy event hosted by Goldman Sachs, Wright said that the US will first sell Venezuela\u2019s stored oil\u2014stuck in the country in part due to the US sanctions on its exports\u2014and then market all oil coming out of Venezuela moving forward. The revenue from those sales will then be \u201cdeposited into accounts controlled by the US government\u201d and then \u201cflow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll enable the importing of parts and equipment and services to kind of prevent the industry from collapsing, stabilize the production, and then as quickly as possible, start to see it growing again,\u201d Wright explained<\/a>. The plan signals a stark contrast to the strict US sanctions on Venezuela\u2019s oil <\/strong>before the capture of Maduro. <\/p>\n The dual announcements came as the US military on Wednesday seized<\/a> a Russian-flagged oil tanker and apprehended<\/a> a \u201cstateless\u201d tanker it accused of <\/strong>\u201cconducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil\u2014the three largest US oil companies\u2014are reportedly scheduled to meet<\/a> Trump on Friday to discuss how to invest in Venezuela. (For context, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the US produced<\/a> about 13 million barrels of oil per day in 2023, and world oil consumption<\/a> was around 103 million barrels per day in 2024.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is escalating Trump\u2019s vision to take over Greenland despite international warnings to drop the threats, reportedly telling<\/a> lawmakers on Monday that Trump intends to buy the territory. As I reported<\/a> on Tuesday, European leaders have repeatedly defended Greenland in the wake of Maduro\u2019s capture, writing<\/a> that the country \u201cbelongs to its people.\u201d Their joint statement<\/a>, released Tuesday, named the United States as a NATO ally that must uphold \u201cprinciples of the UN Charter, including sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n But in Venezuela, the EU has largely been quiet. A joint statement issued on Sunday stopped short of condemning the Trump administration and even upheld its justification for attacking Venezuela: \u201cThe EU shares the priority of combating transnational organised crime and drug trafficking, which pose a significant security threat worldwide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n So why the tepid response in regards to Venezuela? Read my colleague Inae Oh\u2019s conversation with Abe Newman about neo-royalism for a potential answer. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n