Earlier, Politico sources had announced hydrocarbon production agreements between small U.S. companies and Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA. The agreements were expected to be signed in the coming days. The oil production deals are being concluded with the mediation of U.S. authorities, although White House representatives are not taking part in the signing ceremony, TASS reported, citing the publication.

At present, around half of the oil produced in Venezuela — more than 500,000 barrels per day out of 1.25 million bpd — is sent to the United States, where it is processed by refineries originally designed for this type of crude, said U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle Haustveit.

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump called Venezuelan oil a trophy, while describing the military operation to capture the country’s leader and his wife as a “48-minute war.” According to the president, Washington spent less on the operation than it has already earned from exports of Venezuelan crude.

According to estimates by The Financial Times, in 2026 U.S. authorities earned more than USD 13 billion from sales of Venezuelan oil, with a significant portion of that amount not returning to the budget of the Bolivarian Republic. Control over cash flows, officials have explained, allows Washington to influence Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.