Venezuela's oil revenue exceeds $1 billion; funds will be deposited into a new account at the U.S. Treasury Department

Federal Reserve News February 14 (Editor: Zhou Ziyi) The U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, stated in an interview this week that Venezuela’s oil sales revenue has now exceeded $1 billion. He also revealed that the U.S. has established an account at the Treasury Department, and funds will no longer flow through Qatar.

Previously, the Trump administration deposited the initial $500 million from oil sales into a Qatar-controlled account under U.S. control. However, Democratic members of Congress questioned the transparency and legality of this arrangement.

Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Adam Schiff proposed legislation this week requiring the Trump administration’s accountability office to conduct an independent audit of the Qatar account.

In response, Wright explained that the account previously set up in Qatar was always controlled by the U.S. government, with funds first deposited into that account and then transferred back to Venezuela. Qatar was chosen to avoid the risk of Venezuelan creditors freezing funds in U.S. bank accounts.

“Now, we have opened an account at the U.S. Treasury Department, and this money will no longer flow to Qatar,” said the energy secretary.

Oil Revenue Exceeds $1 Billion

Meanwhile, Wright also stated that Venezuela’s oil sales revenue has now surpassed $1 billion. Regarding future plans, the U.S. has reached a short-term agreement with Venezuela to sell an additional $5 billion worth of crude oil in the coming months.

He added that, so far, these oils have been shipped to U.S. refineries and Europe.

Last month, after the Trump administration took control of Venezuela’s former President Maduro, the U.S. quickly took charge of Venezuela’s oil sales and recent developments. This week, Wright also met with Venezuela’s interim President, Delcy Rodríguez.

It is worth noting that issues surrounding U.S. recognition of the Venezuelan government and complex sanctions exemptions still limit the full recovery of the country’s oil exports.

On Friday, February 13, the U.S. Treasury Department also issued two general licenses, significantly easing sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector. However, the Venezuelan state oil company still sells oil only to companies with individual licenses, restricting the pace of export expansion.