Trump touts Venezuelan oil windfall for US as Caracas pushes back

With oil at the centre of Washington’s pressure campaign on Caracas, US President Donald Trump on January 6 claimed Venezuela would supply between 30 million and 50 million barrels of crude to the United States — a volume he said could be worth up to $2.8 billion at current prices.

Trump said the proceeds from the oil sale would be used “to benefit the people” of both nations, even as Venezuela — despite holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves — accounts for less than 1% of global production due to years of economic collapse and sanctions.

The announcement came ahead of a scheduled White House meeting with executives from Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, as the Trump administration looks to revive Venezuela’s vast but struggling oil sector with greater US corporate involvement.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, the United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil and related products daily, meaning the proposed Venezuelan supply would cover barely two-and-a-half days of US demand. Venezuela, by contrast, produces roughly one million barrels a day, far below the US average output of 13.9 million barrels recorded in October.

In Caracas, the remarks were swiftly rejected. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez dismissed Trump’s claims and warned against what she described as coercion disguised as economic cooperation.

Her response followed reports that at least 24 Venezuelan security personnel were killed during a late-night US military operation aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro and transferring him to the United States on drug trafficking charges.

Earlier this week, Trump warned Rodríguez she could face consequences “worse than Maduro’s” if she failed to comply with US demands, including opening Venezuela’s energy sector to American companies.

Addressing senior officials on January 6, Rodríguez struck a defiant tone. “My destiny is not determined by those who threaten me, but by God,” she said.

Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab said “dozens” of security personnel and civilians were killed during the weekend strikes in Caracas, adding that prosecutors would investigate what he described as a “war crime.”