China Confirms Purchase of Venezuelan Crude Previously Acquired by U.S.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged in Caracas that some Venezuelan barrels which had been obtained by American authorities have since been bought by Chinese interests, but he declined to provide figures, prices or the names of buyers. That confirmation is notable because U.S. officials have in recent weeks overseen the monetization of Venezuelan crude and routed proceeds into accounts held under U.S. oversight — an inaugural tranche has been reported at roughly $500 million — as part of a controlled mechanism intended to finance basic public spending and retain oversight. Traders and refiners responded to the U.S. disposition program by expanding logistics options to access available barrels, with market sources citing firms such as Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura as active in arranging shipments; physical lift and port bottlenecks in Venezuela, however, mean exports could be delayed by months. While Wright framed the sales as routine when executed within legal frameworks, the lack of detail leaves open whether the Chinese purchases stem from the same U.S.-overseen disposals or from parallel commercial channels and intermediaries. The admission underlines how a tactical U.S. approach to monetize assets can intersect with Beijing’s longstanding strategy of securing heavy crude through multiple routes, including state-backed firms and intermediaries that tolerate complex sanction and banking constraints. Venezuelan authorities can present any foreign purchase as commercial validation, while critics in Washington may question whether asset-management choices are consistent with broader sanctions and diplomatic aims. Policy documents and drafts circulating in Caracas — proposing to open operations to private and mixed firms and permit project-specific fiscal terms — further complicate the investment landscape by signaling potential legal change that could attract outside capital. U.S. policymakers face trade-offs between preserving leverage through strict controls and allowing market mechanisms to generate humanitarian revenue and limited liquidity for Venezuelan institutions. For markets, the immediate price and supply effects appear marginal absent transparent quantities or disruptions to larger export flows, but the political signal is meaningful: access to Venezuelan crude by a geopolitical rival can be leveraged in diplomatic narratives. The disclosure creates a demand for follow-up on volumes, contractual terms, timing of shipments, and the specific link—if any—between the reported $500 million monetization and the Chinese purchases. Absent that information, observers will treat the episode as a politically charged but operationally limited development.