Trump says he will visit Venezuela; Venezuela's oil revenue exceeds $1 billion, and the U.S. will transfer funds to the Treasury Department account.

U.S. President Trump announces plans to visit Venezuela, marking the latest move by the U.S. to accelerate the seizure of Venezuelan oil resources since last month, when the U.S. military took control of former President Maduro. Meanwhile, the U.S. is restructuring the flow of funds from Venezuelan oil sales and significantly easing business restrictions for global energy giants in the country.

According to CCTV, Trump confirmed the plan to visit Venezuela in an interview at the White House but did not disclose specific timing or itinerary. He claimed that the U.S. and Venezuela are working closely together, with major U.S. oil companies extracting oil in Venezuela, and that Venezuela “will receive a large share of the profits.”

This Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated in an interview that Venezuela’s oil sales revenue has now exceeded $1 billion. He also revealed that the U.S. has set up an account at the Treasury Department, and funds will no longer flow through Qatar.

Previously, the Trump administration deposited the initial $500 million from oil sales into a Qatar-controlled account under U.S. control. Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff proposed legislation on Thursday, demanding accountability from the Trump administration and an independent audit of the Qatar account.

Wright explained that choosing Qatar was to avoid the risk of Venezuelan creditors freezing U.S. bank accounts containing the funds. Notably, issues surrounding U.S. recognition of the Venezuelan government led by Guaidó, as well as complex sanctions exemptions, still limit the full resumption of the country’s oil exports.

On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two general licenses, significantly easing sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector. However, Venezuela’s state oil company still only sells oil to companies with individual licenses, restricting the pace of export expansion.

Funds Flow Shift to the U.S. Mainland

Wright stated that the U.S. government previously set up an account in Qatar to receive Venezuelan oil sales revenue, which was then transferred back to Venezuela.

The fundamental reason for transferring funds to Qatar was the risk posed by creditors. Venezuela faces hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid debt due to sovereign default and the nationalization of assets of companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. Wright said:

Venezuela has many creditors and owes a huge amount. If we quickly set up a U.S. bank account to deposit the funds, creditors might freeze those assets. We want creditors to eventually recover their money, but the funds need to be sent to Venezuela urgently.

CCTV reports that on the 11th local time, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, to meet with interim President Rodriguez and others. According to U.S. sources, Wright is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Venezuela since the country’s military intervention.

Wright said the visit would include meetings with Venezuela’s interim President Rodriguez and senior oil and gas industry executives, and an assessment of Venezuela’s oil and gas production.

He revealed that the U.S. has signed short-term agreements to sell an additional $5 billion worth of Venezuelan crude oil in the coming months. Currently, this oil is sold to U.S. refineries and Europe.

Legal Challenges in Recognizing the Government

The U.S. faces additional complexities because it has not officially recognized the government led by Rodriguez. Trump recognized the opposition-led National Assembly elected in 2015 during his first term in 2019.

On January 28, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. must find a way to resolve the recognition issue before funds can be deposited in U.S. banks. Rubio said:

You have to recognize a government, but we do not recognize this government; we recognize the 2015 National Assembly, so we need to find some creative legal means to meet that standard.

According to an international law expert Scott Anderson, who previously worked at the U.S. State Department, based on Trump’s recognition, Venezuelan oil revenues deposited in the U.S. should theoretically be controlled by the opposition-led National Assembly.

This raises questions about which government the U.S. will ultimately recognize and when.

Wright told NBC that Venezuela might hold elections and transfer power during Trump’s term, at which point U.S. supervision of Venezuela’s internal affairs would end. Wright said:

This is a process issue; Venezuela’s long-term political leadership will ultimately be decided by Venezuela itself.

Sanctions Easing Still Faces Implementation Barriers

On Friday, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC issued two new general licenses allowing major oil companies—Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell, and Repsol—to resume operations in Venezuela’s oil and natural gas sector.

These companies still have offices in the country. The licenses require royalties and Venezuelan taxes to be paid through a U.S.-controlled foreign government deposit fund.

Another license permits global companies to sign new contracts with Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA for oil and gas investments, but only with separate approval from OFAC. The licenses prohibit transactions with Russian, Iranian companies, or joint ventures controlled by these countries.

Despite last month’s broad general license allowing oil exports and the issuance of export licenses worth billions to traders like Trafigura and Vitol, Venezuelan oil buyers say the general licenses have not sufficiently facilitated trade.

However, according to Reuters, citing four companies seeking to purchase cargoes, Venezuela’s state oil company has refused to sell oil to companies without U.S. individual licenses over the past two weeks, limiting export growth.

Sources indicate that the broad nature of the general licenses leaves many conditions open to interpretation, raising questions about what activities are permitted and what are prohibited.

Venezuelan state oil company executives are requesting specific guidance from the U.S. on which companies they can trade with and clearer terms to track shipments and ensure revenue.

Reports also suggest that U.S. banks are reluctant to finance Venezuelan oil trade transactions due to the complexity of the licenses. One source said:

Some banks may be hesitant to handle these transactions or may believe they are not authorized… Banks might be conducting more due diligence.

The U.S. Treasury’s FAQs issued last week state that oil sales transactions must follow commercially reasonable terms or terms “consistent with current market and industry standards.” The statement also notes:

Financial institutions may rely on their clients’ representations that transactions comply with License No. 46 unless they know or have reason to know otherwise.

Current general licenses for oil sales and trade do not permit debt repayment negotiations via oil cargoes as before, posing challenges for many of Venezuela’s oil partners, whose primary goal is recovering owed millions.

According to Venezuela’s updated export schedule this week, despite multiple negotiations with U.S. and other regional refineries for direct purchases, Vitol, Trafigura, and Chevron still dominate Venezuela’s oil exports.

Shipping data shows Venezuela’s January oil exports increased from 498,000 barrels per day in December to about 800,000 barrels per day, but remain below last year’s average, unable to significantly deplete inventories.

Over the past two months, Gulf Coast refineries in the U.S. have struggled to absorb the rapid increase in Venezuelan crude shipments, with traders possibly reselling Venezuelan oil to Europe and Asia.

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