Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that a plan to seize and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil is designed to give the Trump Administration “tremendous leverage” to stabilize the country after last weekend’s U.S. raid removed President Nicolás Maduro from power.
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Speaking to reporters at the Capitol after a classified briefing for the full Senate, Rubio said the oil would be sold on the open market at prevailing prices, with the U.S. controlling the proceeds rather than Venezuela’s “interim” authorities. The goal, he said, is to prevent corruption and ensure the money benefits ordinary Venezuelans.
“We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil,” Rubio said. “We’re going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is disbursed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”
Rubio’s comments offered the most detailed public explanation yet of the Administration’s plans for Venezuela, outlining how the U.S. intends to use control of the country’s oil revenue to shape what comes next. He described the oil plan as the first phase of a broader, three-step strategy for Venezuela: stabilization, recovery, and transition. The Administration is starting with stabilization, Rubio said, because “we don’t want it descending into chaos.”
When asked how much this effort would cost U.S. taxpayers, he replied, “It’s not going to cost us anything.”
The remarks came as the U.S. military sharply escalated its pressure on Venezuela’s oil exports. On Wednesday, American forces seized two tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, including a Russian-flagged vessel that had been evading U.S. authorities for weeks. One ship was intercepted in the North Atlantic between Scotland and Iceland for violating U.S. sanctions, while another—a stateless “dark fleet” tanker—was apprehended in international waters in the Caribbean and escorted to the United States.
Together, the tanker seizures and what Rubio has called an American “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil are designed to choke off exports that have long been the country’s primary source of revenue. If the United States ultimately takes control of 30 million to 50 million barrels—roughly two months of Venezuela’s typical production—it would be worth an estimated $1.8 billion to $3 billion at current prices. It remains unclear what exactly Venezuela would receive in return.
Rubio confirmed that the interim Venezuelan leadership wants one of the seized tankers’ cargo to be folded into the broader oil deal.
“They understand that the only way they can move oil and generate revenue and not have economic collapse is if they cooperate and work with the United States,” he said, adding that the administration was “about to execute on a deal.”
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.