President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela is turning over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, with proceeds he said will benefit both the Venezuelan people and Americans.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, just days after he authorized U.S. military action to remove socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.
"I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America," Trump said in the post.
"This 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!" he added.
Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela's interim president Monday. Rodriguez indicated she would cooperate with Washington.
"I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States," Trump concluded his post.
Before the arrest of Maduro, Venezuela's oil sector was a shadow of its former self despite holding the world's largest proven oil reserves — estimated at over 300 billion barrels.
Decades of socialist mismanagement, expropriation of foreign assets, and U.S. sanctions decimated output, which fell from over 3 million barrels per day in the early 2000s to roughly 1 million barrels per day by 2025.
Sanctions forced much of the crude trade underground and shifted exports mainly to China, with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) struggling to generate cash revenue. Production bottlenecks, lack of investment, and aging infrastructure kept Venezuela's oil influence weak on global markets.
Economist Peter Morici told Newsmax on Tuesday that Venezuelan oil was unlikely to have an immediate or dramatic effect on the broader U.S. economy.
"I don't think it means a great deal, because it's going to take a long time to bring back Venezuelan oil," Morici said.
Even if Venezuelan oil returns to global markets, Morici said the impact would likely be incremental rather than transformative. He noted that additional supply could put some downward pressure on prices, but market dynamics would limit how far oil could fall.
"Don't get me wrong — it's a good thing to bring back this oil," Morici said, but added that the idea that this alone suddenly changes the economic picture just isn't realistic.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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