The United States will sell Venezuelan oil "indefinitely," after completing sales of the crude currently in storage there, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday.
"We're going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela - first this backed up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace," Wright said at an energy conference.
Wright said the U.S. is working closely with Venezuela on this. Deliveries of diluents for the oil refining process, along with spare parts, are also planned.
The long-term goal is for large U.S. energy companies to be able to fully re-engage in Venezuela, the secretary explained.
"The resources are immense. This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse. That's the plan," Wright asserted in remarks made at a Goldman Sachs energy conference in Aventura, Florida.
On Tuesday, days after the U.S. military ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and took him to New York to stand trial, President Donald Trump announced his country would directly intervene in Venezuela's oil industry.
Trump said that Venezuela's interim government would hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of "sanctioned oil" to the United States, in a move he framed as benefiting both nations.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the oil would be sold at market prices and that the proceeds would be controlled by him to ensure they were used "to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States."
It was initially unclear over what period of time the amount of crude oil mentioned by Trump would be made available by Venezuela.
The volume is roughly equivalent to the entire production of the Venezuelan oil industry for one to two months, and the value could be estimated at nearly $3 billion dollars.
The oil business is the most important source of revenue and foreign exchange for Venezuela's government.
