US refineries now processing half of Venezuela's oil output under new arrangement

Seven months after the United States removed President Nicolas Maduro from power and installed an interim government in Caracas, American refineries have become the primary destination for Venezuelan crude. More than half a million barrels per day now flow from Venezuela to Gulf Coast facilities—out of a national production total of roughly 1.25 million barrels daily. Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit announced the figure at an industry conference in Houston, describing the arrangement as a "beautiful energy partnership" that creates value for both nations.

Venezuela sits atop the world's largest proven oil reserves, an estimated 303 billion barrels representing about 17 percent of global supplies. Yet decades of neglect and international sanctions had reduced the country to producing just 1 percent of world output. By late 2025, production had fallen to around 1 million barrels per day, with only 135,000 barrels reaching American shores. The crude Venezuela produces is heavy and sour—precisely the type that US Gulf Coast refineries were engineered to process. The resumption of large-scale Venezuelan imports represents a direct economic benefit to those facilities, which had adapted their operations to handle this specific grade of oil.

The mechanics of the arrangement reveal Washington's deepening involvement in Venezuelan energy operations. The United States is supplying more than 100,000 barrels daily of naphtha, a lighter hydrocarbon product, which Venezuelan operators blend with heavier crude to make it easier to transport and refine. Jovanny Martinez, a vice president at Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, told the same Houston gathering that output would reach 1.245 million barrels per day by month's end, with exports climbing 19.7 percent for the year. Fuel production has risen 12.9 percent, he noted, allowing Venezuela to supply 5.4 percent more energy domestically. "We made a big effort for an energy reform, and now we're looking for real results in terms of development," Martinez said.

But the financial architecture underlying this partnership remains largely opaque. President Trump has stated that Washington will control the money generated from Venezuelan oil sales, ensuring it benefits both Venezuela and the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that revenue would flow into an account subject to American oversight, with Caracas required to submit monthly budget requests and Washington pre-approving allowable uses. The Financial Times reported in July that the US had collected more than $13 billion from Venezuelan oil sales in 2026 alone—a figure Trump claimed was actually higher. Yet the administration has disclosed almost nothing about how those funds have been deployed. A State Department official told Congress in April that roughly $3 billion had been authorized for disbursement to Venezuela, leaving a gap of at least $10 billion in accounting.

The lack of transparency has drawn scrutiny from independent analysts. The Council on Foreign Relations noted in June that despite repeatedly framing oil revenue control as mutually beneficial, the Trump administration has not publicly disclosed how much crude it has sold, how much money it collected, or where the funds went. The opacity extends to Venezuelan gold and other mineral exports that Washington also controls. The think tank raised a deeper concern: the exclusion of Venezuela's opposition and civil society from discussions about the country's future governance. The interim government is led by Decly Rodriguez, Maduro's former vice president. "Without accountability mechanisms or a clear democratic roadmap, the United States risks entrenching a corrupt successor regime," the Council warned. Venezuela's opposition, including Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado, had proposed in May a roadmap calling for presidential elections and political negotiations—a vision that appears to have gained no traction in Washington's dealings with the interim administration.