US Venezuela Oil Imports Hit 630,000 Barrels a Day

VENEZUELA · OIL

Fourteen months ago the United States was buying almost no Venezuelan oil. It is now buying more than half a million barrels a day, and the president has started describing it as spoils.

Donald Trump told reporters in Ireland that America might stay in Iran and keep the oil, as it has in Venezuela. The Venezuelan trade he was describing is real and recent.

What He Said

The remarks came on Sunday 13 September, to reporters in Ireland, where he was attending the Irish Open.

The United States would ultimately get out of Iran, he said. Unless it decides to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela.

He added that American revenue from Venezuelan oil has paid for the war many times over.

He expects the Iran conflict to end this year, he said, possibly after the November midterm elections. Petrol prices would then fall sharply.

The Trade He Was Talking About

The United States energy agency publishes what the country imports, month by month.

In July 2025 the figure was 7,000 barrels a day, which in oil terms is a rounding error.

This year it climbed steadily. January 200,000, February 231,000, March 373,000, April 429,000, May 471,000.

June, the most recent month published, came in at 630,000 barrels a day.

The weekly series peaked in early August at 743,000 and had eased to 599,000 by the start of September.

What Venezuela Can Actually Pump

OPEC publishes two figures for Venezuela each month, and they rarely agree.

One comes from independent estimates and one from Venezuela itself. In April the state reported 1.136 million barrels a day against an independent estimate of 1.031 million.

For August the independent figure was 1.145 million barrels a day.

Venezuela sat above three million barrels a day at the turn of the century. Twenty-five years of underinvestment, sanctions and emigration of engineers took it to a third of that.

Does the Money Work?

Take 600,000 barrels a day at prevailing crude prices. The annual import bill runs to the order of low tens of billions of dollars.

That is a trade value, not government income. Commercial crude is bought by refiners, and the proceeds go to the seller.

No published arrangement moves Venezuelan oil revenue to the American treasury. No text, licence schedule or mechanism has been released.

Neither the White House nor the Treasury has put out figures supporting the claim about paying for a war.

Why It Matters to the Region

For Venezuela, restored export volumes are the most consequential economic development in years.

For Caribbean and Gulf Coast refiners, Venezuelan heavy crude coming back changes freight patterns and the discounts they pay.

For anyone modelling Venezuelan output, the constraint is still in the oilfields rather than in Washington. Production near 1.1 million barrels a day is far below what the geology allows.

July and August import figures have not been published in the monthly series. The weekly numbers suggest volumes eased through late August.

More: Venezuela news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Trump say about Venezuela?

That the United States might stay in Iran and keep the oil, as it has with Venezuela. He spoke in Ireland on 13 September 2026.

How much oil does Venezuela produce?

About 1.145 million barrels a day in August 2026, on OPEC’s independent estimates.

How much does the US import?

630,000 barrels a day in June 2026, the latest monthly figure published.

Has that changed recently?

Sharply. In July 2025 it was 7,000 barrels a day.

Did Venezuelan oil pay for a war?

Nothing in the public record supports that. Commercial import value does not go to the US government.

Is there a published agreement?

No text, licence schedule or revenue mechanism has been released.

Sources: OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report, US Energy Information Administration, The Hill, Jerusalem Post.