US Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate on the whereabouts of $200 million in Venezuelan oil sales, at the urging of Senator Jeanne Shaheen on Wednesday, January 28.
The hearing focused on the next steps of President Donald Trump's administration in its policy toward Venezuela following the arrest of the country's longtime leader, Nicolas Maduro.
Rubio was asked about Washington's plans to handle the sale of tens of millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven crude reserves, and the mechanism for monitoring the flow of funds from the sale.
Issues of transparency and oversight have been a major focus, given concerns about the potential misuse of funds.
President Trump has previously argued that controlling Venezuela's oil revenues through offshore accounts would benefit the people of the United States and Venezuela.
However, media reports suggest otherwise, including allegations of failure to repay debts to US institutions and benefits to political donors.
The Financial Times reported that Trump awarded $250 million in oil revenues to trading company Vitol, whose senior trader, John Addison, contributed $6 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
The Washington Post revealed that Trump’s top donor and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer has long sought to acquire troubled Venezuelan assets in the US, with the potential to make huge profits from processing Venezuelan oil into gasoline.
The media also reported that Venezuela had received $300 million of the first $500 million in oil sales. Rubio confirmed that the remaining $200 million is now in a bank account in Qatar.
The development raised questions about whether the funds will be deposited into a US-based Treasury account, as well as concerns about the transparency of oil revenue management and who actually benefits from the flow of funds.
