US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday that the United States intended to maintain significant control over Venezuela's oil industry, including by overseeing the sale of the country's production "indefinitely," Report informs via The New York Times.
"Going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace," Wright said at a Goldman Sachs energy conference near Miami.
Wright's remarks came after President Trump said late Tuesday that Venezuela would soon hand over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States.
Venezuela would send 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil, or up to two months' worth of daily production, to the United States, Trump said in a social media post, adding that he would control the profits from those sales.
"We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela," said Wright, a former oil industry executive. He added that the money "can flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people."