“Oil is flowing into refineries in Houston and various places,” the president told the New York Post.
Does Trump intend to run Venezuela’s oil industry long term?
Venezuela remains reeling from the detention and arrest of its controversial leader, but many are nervous about the big decisions ahead.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says Venezuelan crude oil seized by the United States is already being processed at U.S. refineries.
The president said in a January 23 interview with the New York Post that crude oil is “going into refineries in different parts of Houston.”
“Let’s do this,” he said. “They don’t have oil. We take the oil.”
President Trump said he is “not authorized” to reveal the locations of seven tankers that the U.S. military has taken from the besieged Latin American country. Since capturing and ousting Venezuela’s leaders on January 3 and declaring that the United States would seize the country’s vast oil reserves, the president has encouraged the heads of major oil companies to invest in rebuilding the country’s energy sector and boosting production after years of devastating sanctions.
Administration officials announced this week that the administration had secured its first sale of Venezuelan oil in a deal worth $500 million. Three sources previously told USA TODAY that some of those funds would be kept in accounts in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar.
The president said more such deals involving millions of barrels of oil are in the works.
“We supply oil in Venezuela,” Trump told the paper. “Venezuela is going to get some, we’re going to get some, and the big oil companies are going to come in and they’re going to get a lot of oil, so Venezuela is going to make more money than they’ve ever made before.”
Contributors: Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Francesca Chambers
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
