United States refineries are now absorbing approximately half of Venezuela’s daily oil output, a senior US official disclosed on Tuesday.
Speaking at an industry event in Houston, Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit revealed that more than 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude are currently moving to US, out of a national output of roughly 1.25 million bpd. The development comes seven months after Washington abducted President Nicolas Maduro and installed an interim government in Caracas, reports Al Jazeera.
According to Haustveit, the crude is being directed to refineries that were built specifically to process that heavy, sour grade of oil, making the resumption of these imports a direct benefit to US Gulf Coast plants. Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, holding an estimated 303 billion barrels, or about 17 per cent of the global total, according to US Energy Information Administration.
However, decades of underinvestment and international sanctions had severely crippled Venezuela’s production, leaving it representing only about 1 per cent of the global supply. At the end of 2025, the country was producing approximately 1 million bpd, with only 135,000 bpd exported to the US.
To help scale up production, Washington is supplying Venezuela with over 100,000 bpd of naphtha to be blended with its heavier crude. Haustveit described the arrangement as a “beautiful energy partnership,” noting that “real value” is being generated on both sides of the trade.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan officials at the same event indicated that the country intends to increase its output further. Jovanny Martinez, a vice-president at the state-run oil company PDVSA, stated that Venezuela’s crude output is projected to reach 1.245 million bpd by the end of August, marking a 19.7 per cent increase in exports this year. Martinez added that domestic fuel output has risen by 12.9 per cent so far this year, increasing the local fuel supply by 5.4 per cent.
“We made a big effort for an energy reform, and now we’re looking for real results in terms of development,” Martinez remarked, adding that Venezuela needs to modernise, expand, and improve its refineries, while also developing diluents domestically for its heavier grades of crude.
The surge in oil output follows comments by US President Donald Trump, who declared that Washington would run Venezuela and tap its oil reserves. In the days following Maduro’s removal, Trump asserted that “the money will be controlled by me” to ensure it is used to benefit the populations of both US and Venezuela.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently informed US Congress that revenues from Venezuelan oil sales “will be deposited into an account that we will have oversight over”. Under this system, Caracas is required to submit a monthly budget request against the account, with Washington specifying up front what the funds cannot be used for.
While the Financial Times reported in July that US has collected over $13 billion in revenue from Venezuelan oil sales this year, a figure Trump later claimed was actually higher, his administration has said almost nothing about what has happened to the money. In April, a State Department official told Congress that the department had authorised the disbursement of approximately $3 billion to Venezuela.
The Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think tank, raised serious concerns in June over the lack of transparency, stating that the US administration has not publicly disclosed the volume of oil sold, the total revenue collected, or how the funds have been utilised. The think tank noted that this opacity also covers Venezuelan gold and other mineral exports controlled by Washington.
the think tank criticised Trump administration’s decision to exclude civil society and the Venezuelan opposition from transition discussions with the interim government in Caracas, which is currently led by Maduro’s former vice-president Decly Rodriguez.
“Without accountability mechanisms or a clear democratic roadmap, United States risks entrenching a corrupt successor regime,” Council on Foreign Relations warned.
In May, Venezuela’s opposition, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, agreed on a new roadmap demanding presidential elections and political negotiations.
