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President Donald Trump said Venezuela would hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of "High Quality, Sanctioned Oil" in a post shared on his Truth Social account Tuesday (January 6), days after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America," Trump wrote. "This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Oil prices fell on Wednesday (January 7) following Trump's announcement, with Brent crude futures LCOcl dropping 0.6% to $60.35 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLcl falling 0.9% to $56.61 per barrel. The Trump administration reportedly told Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodríguez that her country must agree to partner exclusively with the U.S. and cut economic ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba in order to continue its oil production.
The Chinese foreign ministry bashed Trump's reported demand to gain exclusive access to Venezuelan oil production, calling it a "typical act of bullying."
“Venezuela is a sovereign country and enjoys full and permanent sovereignty over its natural resources and all economic activities,” said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular briefing in Beijing via NBC News.
“The United States’ reckless use of force against Venezuela and its demand that Venezuela dispose of its oil resources under the principle of ‘America First’ constitute bullying behavior, seriously violate international law, gravely infringe upon Venezuela’s sovereignty, and severely harm the rights of the Venezuelan people,” she added. “China strongly condemns this.”