The Trump administration is allowing China to buy Venezuelan oil, but not at the “unfair and discounted” prices at which Caracas sold crude before the United States ousted President Nicolas Maduro, a U.S. official said Thursday.
While the oil will be sold on the global market, the government has demanded that most of it be sold to the United States, the official said on condition of anonymity. The United States says it will control Venezuela’s oil sales indefinitely after Maduro’s ouster on January 3.
“Thanks to President (Donald) Trump’s decisive and successful police operation, the Venezuelan people will receive a fair price for their oil from China and other nations, instead of a corrupt and cheap price,” the official declared.
China has been the main buyer of Venezuela’s oil for years, and sales helped Caracas pay off huge loans to Beijing in debt-for-oil deals.
The government is allowing China to buy the oil at “fair market prices, not the unfair and discounted prices” at which Maduro sold oil to China to pay his debts, the official said.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated last week that the United States was receiving about $45 per barrel of Venezuelan oil, compared to the roughly $31 Venezuela received before Maduro’s capture.
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Traders Trafigura and Vitol have sold about 11 million barrels of oil in an initial supply deal for stranded crude between Venezuela and the United States, representing about a quarter of the $2 billion deal.
Trafigura completed its first sale of crude oil to a customer in a deal with Spanish company Repsol (REP.MC), while Vitol has negotiated cargoes to US refineries, such as Valero (VLO.N), and Phillips 66 (PSX.N), and its refinery in Italy, sources said.
China’s oil imports from Venezuela are expected to plunge from February as fewer oil tankers have managed to leave after the United States took control of sales from the OPEC producer, traders and analysts reported last week.
With information from Reuters
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