U.S. President Trump stated that he will visit Venezuela, marking the latest move in the U.S. accelerating its acquisition of Venezuelan oil resources after the U.S. military took control of former President Maduro last month. Meanwhile, the U.S. is restructuring the flow of funds from Venezuelan oil sales and significantly easing business restrictions for global energy giants in the country.
According to CCTV reports, Trump confirmed the plan to visit Venezuela during a media interview at the White House but did not disclose specific dates or itinerary. He claimed that both the U.S. and Venezuela are closely cooperating, and that large U.S. oil companies are extracting oil in Venezuela, from which Venezuela &#34;will receive a significant portion of the profits.&#34;
This Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright stated in a media interview that Venezuelan oil sales revenue has now exceeded $1 billion. He also revealed that the U.S. has set up an account in the Treasury Department, and funds will no longer flow through Qatar.
Previously, the Trump administration had deposited the initial $500 million in oil sales revenue into a U.S.-controlled account in Qatar. Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff proposed legislation on Thursday requiring the Trump administration's accountability office to conduct an independent audit of the Qatar account.
Wright explained that the choice of Qatar was to avoid the risk of creditors freezing funds in U.S. bank accounts. It is worth noting that the U.S. recognition of the Venezuelan government and the complex sanctions exemption terms still limit the full recovery of the country's oil exports.
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury issued two general licenses, significantly easing sanctions on the Venezuelan energy sector, but the Venezuelan National Oil Company still only sells oil to companies that have obtained separate licenses, limiting the speed of export expansion.
<h2>Funding Path Shifted to the U.S. Mainland</h2>
Wright stated that the U.S. government previously set up an account in Qatar to receive Venezuelan oil sales revenue before transferring it back to Venezuela.
The fundamental reason for transferring funds to Qatar is the risk of creditors. Venezuela faces hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid debts due to sovereign debt defaults and the nationalization of assets from companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. Wright stated:
<blockquote>
Venezuela has numerous creditors and owes a huge amount; if we quickly establish a U.S. bank account to deposit the funds, creditors may freeze that money. We hope the creditors will eventually get their money back, but this money urgently needs to be sent to Venezuela.
</blockquote>
CCTV News reported that on the 11th local time, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright arrived in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and will meet with interim President Rodriguez and others
According to U.S. sources, Wright is the highest-ranking U.S. official to step foot in Venezuela since the U.S. took military action against the country.
Wright has stated that he will meet with Venezuela's interim president Rodriguez and executives from the oil and gas industry to assess the state of Venezuela's oil and gas production.
He revealed that the U.S. has signed a short-term agreement to sell an additional $5 billion worth of Venezuelan crude oil in the coming months. Currently, this oil has been sold to U.S. refineries and Europe.
<h2>Government Acknowledges Legal Dilemma</h2>
The additional complexity facing the U.S. is that it has not formally recognized the government led by Rodriguez. Trump recognized the opposition-led National Assembly from 2015 during his first term in 2019.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on January 28 to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. must find a way to address the government recognition issue in order to deposit funds in the U.S. Rubio said:
<blockquote>
You have to recognize a government, but we do not recognize this government; we recognize the 2015 National Assembly, so we have to find some kind of creative legal way to meet that standard.
</blockquote>
According to reports citing international law expert Scott Anderson, who previously worked at the U.S. State Department, the oil revenues from Venezuela deposited in the U.S. should theoretically be controlled by the opposition National Assembly based on Trump's recognition.
This raises questions about which government the U.S. will ultimately recognize and when.
Wright told NBC that Venezuela might hold elections and achieve a transfer of power during Trump's term, at which point U.S. oversight of Venezuela's domestic affairs would end. Wright said:
<blockquote>
This is a process issue; the long-term political leadership of Venezuela will ultimately be decided by Venezuela itself.
</blockquote>
<h2>Easing of Sanctions Still Faces Implementation Hurdles</h2>
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control officially issued two new general licenses for the five major U.S. oil companies, allowing Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell, and Repsol to resume their oil and gas operations in Venezuela.
These companies still have offices in the country. The authorization requires royalties and Venezuelan taxes to be paid through U.S.-controlled foreign government deposit funds.
Another license allows global companies to sign contracts for new investments in Venezuela's oil and gas sector with Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), but requires separate approval from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. This authorization does not allow transactions with companies from Russia or Iran or joint ventures controlled by personnel from these countries.
Despite the U.S. issuing a general license last month that broadly permits oil exports and granting separate export licenses worth billions of dollars to traders Trafigura and Vitol, Venezuelan oil buyers have stated that the general license has not sufficiently facilitated trade.
However, according to Reuters, citing sources from four companies seeking to purchase goods, the Venezuelan state oil company has refused to sell oil to companies without a separate U.S. license in the past two weeks, limiting the pace of export expansion
According to reports citing sources, the broad nature of the general license leaves many conditions open to interpretation, raising questions about which actions are permitted and which are prohibited.
Executives from Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) have requested specific guidance from the United States on which companies can be traded with and clearer terms for transactions to track goods and ensure revenue.
Reports indicate that Bank of America is also reluctant to provide financing for Venezuelan oil trade transactions due to the complexity of the licenses. One source quoted in the report said:
<blockquote>
Some banks may not want to take the risk of handling these businesses, or may believe these activities are unauthorized... Banks may be conducting more due diligence.
</blockquote>
The frequently asked questions released by the U.S. Treasury Department last week stated that oil sale transactions must adhere to commercially reasonable terms, or terms that &#34;are consistent with current market and industry standards.&#34; The statement also noted:
<blockquote>
Financial institutions may rely on their clients' representations that transactions comply with the terms of License 46, unless they know or have reason to know otherwise.
</blockquote>
The current general license for oil sales and trade does not allow for debt repayment negotiations with oil cargoes as previous authorizations did, which poses challenges for many of PDVSA's partners whose primary goal is to recover millions of dollars owed.
According to an updated export schedule from PDVSA this week, despite the state-owned company holding multiple meetings with various enterprises, including U.S. and other regional refineries, Vitol, Trafigura, and Chevron still dominate Venezuelan oil exports.
Shipping data shows that Venezuela's oil exports in January rose from 498,000 barrels per day in December of last year to about 800,000 barrels per day, but still fell short of last year's average levels, failing to achieve large-scale inventory consumption.
In the past two months, U.S. Gulf Coast refineries have struggled to absorb the rapid surge in Venezuelan crude oil shipments, and traders may be reselling Venezuelan oil to Europe and Asia

The United States has changed the transfer path for Venezuela's oil sales revenue, no longer routing it through Qatari accounts but directly depositing it into the U.S. Treasury, with funds now exceeding $1 billion. The previous choice of Qatar was to avoid the risk of creditor freezes. The U.S. has not recognized the legal predicament caused by the Rodríguez government. Although the U.S. has eased sanctions on Venezuela and issued licenses, the state-owned oil company only sells oil to companies that have received individual licenses, coupled with cautious bank financing and complex licensing terms, which limits Venezuela's export expansion speed. Venezuela's oil exports rose to 800,000 barrels per day in January, still below last year's average level

- U.S. President Trump plans to visit Venezuela, aiming to accelerate the control of Venezuelan oil resources following U.S. military activities against former president Maduro.  
- Concurrently, the U.S. is restructuring the financial flow of Venezuelan oil sales and easing restrictions for global energy companies operating in the country.  
- The U.S. Treasury has issued new licenses allowing major oil companies to resume business in Venezuela, though challenges remain due to complex sanctions and the political recognition of the Venezuelan government.

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Trump claims he will visit Venezuela, Venezuela's oil revenue exceeds 1 billion dollars, and the United States will transfer funds to the Treasury account