Trump: U.S. to Get Up to 50M Bbl of Venezuelan Oil


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) --U.S. President Donald Trump announced late on Tuesday 
(1/6) that the U.S. would receive as many as 50 million bbl of Venezuelan oil  
as the Trump administration seeks to run the OPEC member country after the 
capture of its previous leader Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces.

   "I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be 
turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, 
to the United States of America," Trump said in a post uploaded to his Truth 
Social media site.

   The volume cited by Trump would represent about 30 to 50 days of Venezuelan 
oil production, given the South American country 1 million bpd output estimated 
by OPEC.

   Reuters reported that Venezuela's flagship Merey crude trades about $22 bbl 
less than Brent, which currently hovers at $60 bbl. That puts the 50 million 
bbl cited by Trump at around $2 billion.

   "This oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be 
controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is 
used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!" Trump added in 
his post.

   The U.S. president did not specify where the Venezuelan oil would come from. 
But Venezuela does have a backlog of unshipped volumes piling up in storage 
tanks and aboard contracted vessel since a U.S. blockade that began in early 
December.

   Much of Venezuela's oil has been exported to China in recent years as 
shipments averaged around 850,000 bpd, according to OPEC,  well below 
Venezuela's peak production of 3.5 million bpd.

   China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted saying in an 
immediate response to Trump's announcement that the U.S. action violated 
international law and Venezuelan sovereignty.

    




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