Best relations: US President Trump (r.) and Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani in October 2025. Image: keystone
For the first time since the fall of Maduro, the USA sold Venezuelan oil. Most of the income, amounting to $500 million, is stored in an account in Qatar.
Jan 17, 2026, 3:17 p.mJan 17, 2026, 3:17 p.m
For the first time after the Kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Through a US commando on January 3rd, the US sold oil from the South American country. As a government official told the US news portal Semafor explained, $500 million from this sale flowed into U.S. government accounts. This follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US would effectively rule Venezuela indefinitely and take control of up to 50 million barrels of oil. The proceeds from the sale of these resources should flow back to Venezuela.
Trump signed one on January 9th Executive Orderwhich is intended to prevent courts or creditors from seizing proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil held in U.S. Treasury accounts. Venezuela owes international bondholders, oil companies and others a total of up to $170 billion. This is one reason why US companies have been reluctant to invest in rebuilding the country’s ailing oil infrastructure.
The government official told Semafor that Venezuela’s interim government, led by Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former No. 2, has “fully cooperated” since the US-Venezuela energy deal was announced last week. The income from oil sales is therefore in bank accounts controlled by the US government. According to another senior government official who spoke to Semafor, the main account is in Qatar.
This is a neutral location where money can flow freely with the consent of the USA without the risk of confiscation. According to Semafor, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Economic Club of Minnesota last week that his department would “monitor the accounts” and “then do so at the direction of the President [und] by Minister Rubio … will be responsible for disbursing the funds to Venezuela.”
“The job of the Ministry of Finance is to ensure that the money goes to the right place,” said Bessent. «We are the bankers here; We don’t manage the funds.”
The fact that the US government invests at least part of the proceeds from oil sales in Qatar is likely to meet with strong criticism from the opposition Democrats. They had already been alarmed that funds could be flowing into offshore accounts. Elizabeth Warren, Democratic senator for Massachusetts and a senior member of the party’s banking committee, told Semafor: “There is no legal basis for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls to sell assets confiscated by the American military.” She added: “This is exactly the kind of measure that would irritate a corrupt politician.”
The US political magazine The New Republic described the transfer of oil funds to accounts in Qatar as an “unprecedented step” that was “another affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty” and “renewed questions about the president’s close ties to the Qatari government.” Trump had vowed to control Venezuelan oil “indefinitely.” He had also promised that the proceeds would flow back to the USA and Venezuela. “The New Republic” writes that it is unclear to what extent the money deposited in Qatar will benefit the Venezuelan people. (dhr)