US reaches deal to take up to $2 billion of Venezuelan oil

The Star

The United States and Venezuela have reached an agreement to export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to U.S. ports, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Jan 6), a move that could redirect oil shipments meant for China and ease pressure on Venezuela’s sanctioned oil industry.   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00The United States and Venezuela have reached a deal that could see up to $2 billion worth

00:05of Venezuelan crude sent to U.S. ports. That's according to U.S. President Donald Trump on

00:10Tuesday. The agreement could redirect oil shipments away from China and ease pressure

00:15on Venezuela's oil sector, which has been crippled by sanctions in a U.S. export blockade

00:20imposed last month. Trump said Caracas would turn over 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned

00:26oil to be sold at market prices, with proceeds controlled by him as President of the United

00:31States. The move follows weeks of escalating pressure on Venezuela, capped by the weekend

00:35capture of President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, a development Venezuelan officials

00:40have condemned as a kidnapping, aimed at seizing the country's oil wealth. Millions of barrels

00:45of Venezuelan crude remain stuck on tankers and in storage, unable to move under the blockade.

00:51Trump said Energy Secretary Chris Wright will oversee the operation, with oil transferred

00:56directly from ships to U.S. ports. At present, Chevron controls all Venezuelan oil shipments

01:02to the U.S., exporting up to 150,000 barrels a day under a U.S. authorization. U.S. crude prices

01:08fell more than 1.5 percent following the announcement, as traders anticipated higher supplies. It remains

01:15unclear whether Venezuela will see any revenue from the sales. Would sanctions leaving state oil

01:20firm PDVSA locked out of global banking. U.S. officials say increased Venezuelan oil flows

01:26would support refinery jobs and help stabilize fuel prices.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended