Venezuela’s acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, rejected Trump’s remarks.
With oil emerging as a central issue in Washington’s push on Caracas, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Venezuela would supply between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. With oil trading at roughly $56 a barrel, the transaction could be worth as much as $2.8 billion. Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves but accounts for less than 1% of global production. Trump said the proceeds from the sale would be used “to benefit the people” of both countries.
The White House is scheduled to meet executives from US oil companies Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips on Friday to discuss Venezuela, as the Trump administration seeks to expand the country’s vast but struggling oil sector.
The United States consumes an average of about 20 million barrels of oil and related products a day, meaning Venezuela’s supply would amount to roughly two-and-a-half days of US demand, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Despite having the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, Venezuela produces only about one million barrels a day, well below the US average daily production of 13.9 million barrels in October.
Earlier on Tuesday, officials in Caracas said at least 24 Venezuelan security personnel were killed during a late-night US military operation aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro and transferring him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
Venezuela’s acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, rejected Trump’s remarks. Earlier this week, Trump warned that Rodríguez could face consequences “worse than Maduro’s” if she fails to “do what’s right”, a reference to reshaping Venezuela in line with US interests, including granting American energy companies greater access to the country’s oil industry.
Addressing government officials from the agricultural and industrial sectors on Tuesday, Rodríguez said, “Personally, to those who threaten me: my destiny is not determined by them, but by God.” Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab said “dozens” of officers and civilians were killed in the weekend strike in Caracas and added that prosecutors would investigate the deaths, which he described as a “war crime.”
