The U.S. government has returned more than $12 billion in revenue from Venezuelan oil and the country’s other natural resources, following the overthrow and arrest of President Nicolas Maduro by American forces in January. The data is part of a report by the firm KPMG, published by the State Department on Thursday.
According to it, more than $12.26 billion had been deposited into a special account managed by the U.S. by the end of September, while about $12.1 billion had been transferred to Venezuela. Washington continues to have control over the management of these revenues, under agreements reached after the change of power in Caracas, the KPMG document for the U.S. government states.
The report explains how the American administration manages revenue from exports of Venezuelan oil and other natural resources, a country that holds the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world. According to the document, from January 3, the day of the U.S. military operation that led to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, until September 30, more than $12.26 billion was deposited into the special account called the “Venezuela Custody Account.”
The revenues came from authorized and audited companies operating in the country’s natural resource extraction and trading sector. The bulk of the amount relates to oil exports, the main source of revenue for the Venezuelan state. The rest comes from gold, other metals and chemical fertilizer production.
The special account was initially created in Qatar and later came under the administration of the U.S. Treasury Department, giving Washington control over Venezuela’s export revenues. According to the report prepared by KPMG for the U.S. government, by the end of September about $12.1 billion had been released, while another $168.6 million remained in the account for future payments.
The mechanism provides that revenues from oil sales are first deposited into the account controlled by the U.S. and then transferred, after the appropriate approval, to cover Venezuela’s needs. Most of the funds were channeled into the Venezuelan economy through foreign exchange transactions, while direct payments were also made for government services and supplies.
The U.S. operation of January 3 ended with the arrest of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transferred to the United States. Since then, both have been held in a prison in New York, awaiting trial on a series of charges brought by U.S. authorities, including drug trafficking.
Maduro has denied the charges and described himself as a “prisoner of war.” Meanwhile, in Caracas, Delcy Rodriguez has taken over as acting president, governing the country under pressure from the Donald Trump administration. ## Venezuela’s Oil and the Expanded Role of the U.S. After years of international isolation, the new Venezuelan leadership has gradually begun normalizing diplomatic relations with other states and international organizations.
The U.S. role in Venezuela’s energy sector expanded further in August, when Washington and Caracas announced an agreement providing for American involvement in the control and exploitation of oil fields. According to statements from both sides, the production potential of these fields is estimated at up to 65 billion barrels of crude oil.
The agreement is part of a new framework of economic relations between the two countries, in which the U.S. government retains a decisive role both in administering oil revenues and in exploiting part of Venezuela’s energy resources. Thus, the oil sector remains at the center of relations between Washington and Caracas, while control over revenues and natural resources is one of the key elements of the new agreements between the two countries.