In one of the more unusual energy announcements you'll see, President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that Venezuela will be turning over somewhere between 30 and 50 million barrels of crude oil to the United States. This follows the weekend capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, and the oil in question has been sitting under sanctions.
The Deal, According to Trump
Taking to Truth Social, Trump laid out the plan: Venezuela's interim authorities will ship this "high quality, sanctioned oil" directly to the U.S. on storage vessels bound for American unloading docks. The oil gets sold at market prices, and here's where it gets interesting: Trump says the proceeds will be "controlled by me" and used to benefit both Venezuelan and American citizens.
He's tapped Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan immediately. So we're talking about a fairly significant oil transaction happening under pretty extraordinary circumstances.
The Threat That Came Before
This announcement didn't materialize out of nowhere. Just days earlier, Trump had threatened additional military action against Venezuela if the country didn't cooperate with his plans to "fix" its economy. And he made it clear that Delcy Rodriguez, the Venezuelan Vice President who's now serving as interim leader after Maduro's capture, could "face a situation probably worse than Maduro" if things don't go according to plan.
It's diplomacy, but not as we typically know it.
Markets React to Potential Supply Surge
Oil markets wasted no time responding to the news. WTI Crude futures for February delivery fell 1.24% to $56.42 per barrel on Tuesday night. That's what happens when you suddenly announce tens of millions of barrels might be hitting the market.
The math here is interesting: at current prices, we're looking at gross proceeds around $2.8 billion. But there's a catch. Venezuelan crude is heavy stuff, and it typically trades at a discount to benchmarks like West Texas Intermediate, which is lighter and sweeter. So the actual revenue could be lower than that headline number suggests.
The United States Oil Fund LP (USO), which tracks daily crude oil prices, dropped 2.44% on Tuesday to $68.51 and continued sliding 0.96% in overnight trading. According to market data, the fund shows poor momentum indicators across short, medium, and long-term price trends.
What happens next depends largely on whether this oil actually ships, how quickly it arrives, and what the market looks like when it does. But for now, traders are betting that more supply means lower prices, and they're positioning accordingly.