The U.S. Will ‘Indefinitely’ Take Over Venezuelan Oil Sales and Revenue

Chris Wright is the first administration official to acknowledge that U.S. oil companies are unlikely to immediately invest in Venezuela, as Trump said they would.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright during a Senate hearing.

“Indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

The Trump administration plans to “indefinitely” take control of Venezuelan oil sales, sell the country’s oil production into the global marketplace, and put the revenues into accounts controlled by President Donald Trump, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.

Wright offered the first concrete — albeit light on details — plan for how the Trump administration wants to control Venezuela’s oil industry, the country’s primary source of revenue, at a Goldman Sachs energy conference in Miami Wednesday.

“Indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” he said.