The Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated this Monday that Venezuela is selling its oil in the global market at full market price for the first time in decades, and that the revenues are being directed straight to benefit the Venezuelan people.
"For the first time in decades, Venezuela is selling its oil in the global market at full market price, and the money is returning to Venezuela and being spent for the benefit of the Venezuelan people," Rubio stated in a video published by the Department of State.
The secretary clarified that these funds are used to purchase medications and medical equipment, and to cover the salaries of teachers, police officers, public officials, and sanitation workers.
The statement summarizes the outcome of the new energy scheme established by Washington following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026, an event that radically transformed the management of the Venezuelan oil sector.
Under this model, the United States took control of between 30 and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, sells it at market prices through international trading companies such as Vitol and Trafigura, and deposits the revenues into accounts supervised by the U.S. Treasury.
The interim Venezuelan authorities, led by Delcy Rodríguez, must present to Washington a monthly budget detailing the use of those funds, and payments cannot go directly to PDVSA or to sanctioned entities.
The financial results are already clear: Rodríguez announced in January $300 million in oil revenues, and the United States returned $500 million from the initial sales in February, contingent upon being directed towards the basic needs of the population.
Chevron tripled its exports of Venezuelan crude to the United States, rising from 100,000 barrels per day in December 2025 to 300,000 barrels in March 2026, while Venezuelan crude Merey averaged 47.65 dollars per barrel in the first two months of the year.
This scheme contrasts sharply with the previous decades when Venezuela sold its oil at significant discounts to allies such as Cuba, China, Russia, and Iran, or used it as a political bargaining chip through the Petrocaribe program, while production fell from 3.4 million barrels per day in the 1970s to less than one million in the 2020s.
In February, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a reform to the hydrocarbons law that opened the sector to foreign Western capital, explicitly excluding Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. This month, Washington eased additional sanctions to increase production and exports.
Projections indicate that the sector will generate more than 10 billion dollars annually, and Global Witness estimates that it could contribute up to 150 billion dollars to the Venezuelan treasury over a decade.
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