The United States has finalized its first sale of Venezuelan oil, worth US$500 million. On Wednesday, a US official said more oil sales were expected in the coming days and weeks.
Since the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on January 3 by American military forces, President Trump's administration has announced that it is taking full control of Venezuelan oil sales.
From now on, Venezuela cannot sell oil without the prior agreement of the United States.
If she condemned the capture of President Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez, the interim Venezuelan president is currently submitting to the obligations imposed by the United States.
Venezuela has the largest ever-discovered reserves of crude oil in the world, at around 303 billion barrels, or about 17% of the global total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In April 2019, the United States imposed an embargo on Venezuelan oil. Then a total freeze of Venezuelan government assets in the United States.
The oil embargo was subsequently eased in 2023 to compensate for the loss on the Russian side after the invasion of Ukraine.
