By Spy Uganda Correspondent
In a move critics are calling outright economic plunder, the Trump administration has announced plans to take direct control of Venezuela’s sanctioned oil sales, effectively placing the country’s most valuable national resource under US custody “indefinitely.”
The White House confirmed that up to 30–50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude would be handed over to the United States for sale on global markets, with all revenues deposited into US-controlled accounts, firmly under Washington’s authority. The projected sales are expected to raise about $2.8 billion, money that Venezuela will not control, access, or independently allocate.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright made no attempt to soften the power dynamic, openly admitting that the oil seizure is meant to give Washington leverage over Caracas.
“We need to have that leverage and control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela,” Wright said.
How much, if any, of the revenue will return to Venezuela remains unclear.
“Not stealing,” says Washington – but critics call it daylight robbery
While the Trump administration insists it is “not stealing anyone’s oil,” the mechanics tell a different story. The oil will be marketed by the US, sold by the US, and the money held by the US. President Donald Trump, announcing the plan on social media, claimed Venezuela would be “turning over” the oil, which he said he would personally ensure is used to benefit both Americans and Venezuelans.
The White House said it has already begun coordinating with major banks and commodity traders to execute the sales, even as Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA pushed back, saying negotiations are still ongoing and framed within existing bilateral arrangements.
“This process is based on similar rules to those in force with international companies,” PDVSA said, a statement widely interpreted as damage control rather than consent.
Sanctions lifted with one hand, control tightened with the other
To facilitate the oil flow, Washington plans to selectively roll back decades-old sanctions that crippled Venezuela’s crude exports. Wright bluntly told an energy conference in Miami: “We’re going to let the oil flow.”
But the flow will be tightly monitored, managed, and monetized by the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the plan as a moral intervention, claiming the money would bypass President Nicolás Maduro’s government and instead help “the Venezuelan people.”
“Not corruption, not the regime,” Rubio said, adding that the US would use the funds as leverage to “stabilise” the country.
Democrats cry foul: “Stealing oil at gunpoint”
The plan has sparked outrage in Washington itself. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy did not mince words, calling the policy reckless and extreme.
“They are talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint for a period of time undefined as leverage to micromanage the country,” Murphy said. “The scope and insanity of that plan is absolutely stunning.”
International reaction has also been sharp. China, which has been a major buyer of Venezuelan oil in recent years, condemned the US move, warning against unilateral control of another nation’s natural resources. Beijing’s criticism follows recent US strikes and a naval blockade that disrupted Venezuelan tanker shipments, further choking Caracas’ oil lifeline.
Who really benefits?
Venezuela sits on one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, yet years of sanctions, mismanagement, and underinvestment have slashed output to about one million barrels per day, less than 1% of global production.
Analysts say the immediate winners will not be Venezuelans, but US oil companies, particularly Chevron, the last major American firm still operating in the country. US refineries, designed to process Venezuela’s heavy crude, also stand to gain. The redirection of Venezuelan oil to the US could squeeze Mexico and Canada, currently key suppliers of similar crude.
Oil prices have already dipped on expectations that Venezuelan barrels could re-enter the market, though experts warn that any meaningful production increase will take years and billions of dollars, investments companies may be reluctant to make under Washington’s unpredictable political grip.
Oil as a weapon
As Trump prepares to host oil executives at the White House, the message is clear: Venezuelan oil is no longer just a commodity, but a geopolitical weapon. Whether branded as “leverage” or “stabilisation,” the policy amounts to the external seizure of a sovereign nation’s primary resource, executed not through invasion, but through sanctions, financial control, and raw power.
For critics at home and abroad, the label is simpler: imperialism by pipeline.
