By La Tabla / Data Journalism Platform | July 28, 2026
President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that his administration has raised more than $13 billion from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil since taking control of the country’s exports in January. Asked aboard Air Force One about where the money is going, Trump gave evasive answers: first he said it would go toward «running the country,» then added that the funds «can go to the military» — though he clarified that Congress would need to approve that use.
The figure, which Trump himself revised upward to «even more than that,» aligns with calculations by the Financial Times based on shipping data and market prices. But it stands in stark contrast to the barely $300 million that Venezuela’s interim government reports having actually received.
Nearly 200 Million Barrels in Six Months
To put the number in perspective, consider the price of Venezuelan crude. The country’s benchmark Merey 16 has traded above $70 per barrel** throughout 2026, peaking at **$90 in May. At those prices, $13 billion corresponds to the sale of roughly 141 to 186 million barrels.
That volume represents practically all of Venezuela’s exports from the first half of 2026. Industry data shows the country exported 187.1 million barrels during that period, valued at **$14.3 billion**. In other words, the $13 billion Trump claims to have collected amounts to 97% of what the country exported in six months.
Venezuela currently produces about 1.2 million barrels per day, or 36 million barrels per month. The $13 billion (roughly 165 million barrels) represents nearly five months of the country’s entire oil production.
The Gap Between What the U.S. Collects and What Venezuela Receives
While the U.S. has amassed this fortune, the government of interim president Delcy Rodríguez set up a web portal to track oil revenues. To date, it records just one transfer of $300 million, corresponding to an «extraordinary fuel oil sale» in March.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has assured that the funds are held in a Citibank account and audited by KPMG, and that about $3 billion had been disbursed by April for expenses inside Venezuela. However, economists consulted by the Financial Times point out that signs of economic recovery in the country are «relatively scarce,» suggesting that the bulk of the money has not returned to Venezuela.
Total Opacity and Growing Pressure in Congress
Trump’s comments have set off alarms on Capitol Hill. Democratic Congressman Joaquín Castro denounced that «billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil revenues are being controlled by the Trump administration without transparency or safeguards». Even Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar has demanded public reports on the destination of the funds.
As Trump suggests the money could finance the U.S. military, and the Venezuelan government has seen barely $300 million of the $13 billion raised, the question remains unanswered: where is the rest of Venezuela’s oil money?
Read the full investigation (in Spanish):
👉 https://latablablog.wordpress.com/2026/07/28/trump-confirma-que-ee-uu-ha-recibido-13-mil-millones-de-dolares-por-petroleo-venezolano-y-sugiere-que-los-fondos-podrian-ir-al-ejercito-estadounidense/