Venezuela to send oil worth $2bn to US

7th Jan 2026 07:33

(Sharecast News) - Venezuela has agreed to send oil worth around $2bn to the US, Donald Trump has announced in a social media post.

The American president said Venezuela would be "turning over" between 30m and 50m barrels of "High Quality, Sanctioned Oil" following an agreement struck with Caracas.

Writing on Truth Social overnight on Wednesday, he continued: "The Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!"

The US launched its military operation to remove Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from power earlier this month, after weeks of pressure. Trump has since been explicit that Venezuela must now open up its vast oil reserves to US companies or risk further military invention.

The country already has millions of barrels of oil loaded in tankers and storage tanks that it has been unable to ship after Trump imposed a blockade on exports late last year.

Trump said in his post that the oil would be taken from ships and sent directly to US ports.

Crude prices fell sharply following the announcement, on the expectation of an uplift in supply.

Both benchmark Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were off 1% as at 0830 GMT, at $60.20 and $56.48 respectively.