US President Donald Trump announced that the Venezuelan authorities will transfer up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States for sale and he will control the proceeds of this transaction.
„I am pleased to announce that the interim authorities of Venezuela will transfer between 30 and 50 million barrels of high-quality, sanctioned oil to the United States“, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
„This oil will be sold at market value and I, as President of the United States, will control this money to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States! "I have instructed U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to immediately implement this plan," Trump added.
He noted that the oil would be delivered to U.S. ports.
As the American newspaper Politico reported earlier, Washington is pressuring Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to stop oil shipments to countries the United States considers adversaries. David Ignatius, a foreign policy columnist for the “Washington Post“, noted in an article that the U.S. administration has asked Caracas to urgently rewrite oil production laws in favor of U.S. companies. According to Ignatius, the United States wants U.S. companies to have “preferential access“ to Venezuelan oil.
Reuters reported earlier that officials in the Washington administration and Venezuelan authorities are discussing the possibility of increasing oil exports from the South American country to the United States.