Trump: US Sells 100 Million Barrels of Venezuelan Oil

Washington - The United States has sold 100 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, said US President Donald Trump. “We have a very good relationship with Venezuela. We have sold 100 million barrels of oil. That oil is being shipped to Texas to be processed there. In the next month, there will be another 100 million barrels,” Trump said at a forum in Florida, as reported by RIA Novosti on Saturday (2/5). Trump had previously stated that Washington would reap hundreds of billions of dollars from the sale of Venezuelan oil. He warned American oil companies that at least $100 billion must be invested in Venezuela and emphasised that the United States is ready to process oil from that country. In February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian companies were forced out of Venezuela after the US launched a large-scale attack on the country in early January, then captured President Nicolas Maduro along with his wife, and brought them to New York. According to Lavrov, the ban imposed by the US Department of the Treasury on Venezuelan oil transactions with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba constitutes direct discrimination. Based on the provisions of the new agreement between the US and Venezuela following the change of power in Caracas, oil revenues are now collected in an account controlled by Washington. US Energy Minister Chris Wright also stated that the US plans to independently handle the sale of all oil produced in Venezuela.