The United States has announced it will take open-ended control of Venezuelan oil sales and decide how the revenue is spent, deepening Washington’s grip on the country days after the Trump administration abducted President Nicolás Maduro.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the US Department of Energy said it had begun marketing Venezuelan crude on international markets, with all proceeds routed through US-controlled bank accounts.
“These funds will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the US government,” the department said, adding that initial sales of between 30 and 50 million barrels would begin immediately and continue “indefinitely”.
President Donald Trump later suggested that Venezuela would be allowed to spend the money only on US goods.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Caracas had agreed to purchase exclusively American-made products, including agricultural goods, medicines and equipment for Venezuela’s electricity grid and energy infrastructure.
The announcement follows the US capture of Maduro on Saturday, an operation widely condemned by legal experts as a violation of international law.
Trump has since said Washington intends to “run” Venezuela and take control of its oil reserves, the largest proven reserves in the world.
The move caps months of escalating pressure on Venezuela, whose former president faces drug trafficking charges in New York that he denies.
The campaign has included a partial naval blockade and the seizure of multiple tankers accused of violating US sanctions.
Earlier on Wednesday, US forces seized two Venezuela-linked vessels, including a Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic, further raising tensions with Moscow.
The seizures coincided with closed-door briefings for US lawmakers on the administration’s plans for Venezuela.
Reporting from Washington, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said Republicans broadly supported Trump’s strategy, while Democrats expressed concern over its scope and consequences.
Lawmakers pressed officials on how long US involvement would last, the potential cost, whether American troops could be deployed inside Venezuela, and how Venezuelans themselves are responding.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said the briefing raised alarm, arguing that oil executives appeared better informed than Congress about Washington’s intentions.
She called for public Senate hearings into what she described as a secretive plan to control the country.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration was pursuing a three-stage approach, starting with oil sales under US control.
“That money will be handled in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption or the regime,” Rubio said.
He added that the second phase would open Venezuela to US and allied companies and seek political reconciliation, including amnesties and prisoner releases.
A final phase would focus on a political transition.
Energy analyst Gregory Brew of Eurasia Group said the plan resembles a return to pre-1970s concessionary systems, in which Western companies managed production and marketing while producer states received a smaller share of profits.
A group of UN experts warned that US statements about running Venezuela and exploiting its resources violate international law, including the right to self-determination and sovereignty over natural resources.
They cautioned that Venezuela’s oil wealth must not be exploited to justify military aggression, foreign occupation or regime change.
Venezuelan authorities have not publicly responded to Washington’s claim that it will control oil sales.
Renata Segura of the International Crisis Group said this silence suggests either reluctant acceptance or a lack of choice.
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as president following Maduro’s abduction, insisted this week that Venezuela is not being governed by a foreign power, despite US claims to the contrary.
Segura said divisions within Venezuela’s political and military leadership make the situation volatile.
“The armed forces control enormous economic and street-level power,” she said.
“There may come a point where they decide they are not on board with the arrangement the United States is imposing.”
