"China is welcome and will achieve a great deal on oil. We welcome China," US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on 31/1.

President Trump also announced that interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez agreed to an energy cooperation deal with India on 30/1. "They are participating and will buy oil from Venezuela instead of Iran. China is welcome to participate and buy oil," Trump said.

The US leader affirmed that Washington and Caracas would share oil profits, stating that the US "is on very good terms with Venezuela's leadership." "We will sell a lot of oil, the US takes a little and Venezuela takes the larger share. They will do very well, earn more money than ever before, and that will be good for us," he said.

El Palito oil refinery in Puerto Cabello city, Venezuela in 12/2025. Photo: AP

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels. The country once supplied 7% of global oil output but now contributes less than 1%. This decline is due to US sanctions and underinvestment in its oil sector, partly because Venezuela's heavy crude is costly to extract and process.

Interim President Rodriguez announced on 20/1 that Venezuela had received 300 million USD, the first payment under an agreement to transfer 50 million barrels of oil to the US. President Trump confirmed on the same day that the US had received all the said oil and was selling a portion to the market.

Following the launch of an operation to arrest President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on 3/1, Trump and US officials declared they "would control Venezuela's oil sales indefinitely," but asserted the US "is not stealing Venezuela's oil."

US officials stated that oil sales revenue would be deposited into accounts controlled by Washington, then transferred back to Venezuela to "serve the people."

Nguyen Tien (AFP, AP, Reuters)