US Says It Will Control Venezuela Oil Exports Indefinitely

An oil refinery in the Maracaibo lake in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Photographer: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

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By Ari Natter, Naureen S Malik, and Jennifer A Dlouhy

January 7, 2026 at 2:01 PM UTC

Updated on

January 7, 2026 at 7:49 PM UTC

Lea en español

The Trump administration plans to control future sales of Venezuelan oil and hold the proceeds in US accounts, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, making the clearest statement yet on Washington’s strategy to bring the impoverished nation’s crude to market and control its most valuable resource.