WASHINGTON: The United States (US) has already sold 100 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, US President Donald Trump said, reported
Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
"We have great relationship with Venezuela. 100 million barrels of oil we've already sold. It goes down to Texas. It goes to be refined in Texas... Over the next month, it's going to be another 100 million," Trump said at a forum in Florida.
Trump previously said Washington would earn hundreds of billions of dollars from Venezuelan oil sales.
He warned American oil companies that at least US$100 billion would have to be invested in Venezuela and emphasised that the US was ready to process Venezuelan oil.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in February that Russian companies were being forced out of Venezuela after the US launched a massive strike on the country in early January, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and taking them to New York.
According to the minister, the ban on Venezuelan oil transactions with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba, imposed by the US Treasury, constitutes direct discrimination.
Under the terms of new agreements between the US and Venezuela following the change of power in Caracas, oil revenues are being accumulated in accounts controlled by Washington.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright also stated that the US intends to independently handle the sale of all oil produced in Venezuela.
