US Outlines Phase Venezuela Plan as Oil Exports Drop 25%
US Says It Is ‘Confident’ as Venezuela’s Three-Phase Transition Plan Advances Under Delcy Rodríguez
International: Venezuela
Key Facts
—Transition plan. The U.S. State Department said on August 3, 2026 it is “confident” a three-phase plan — stabilization, economic recovery, then political reconciliation and a transition to elections — can “deliver tangible results,” as U.S.-backed talks between Venezuela’s government and opposition began August 1.
—Delcy’s role. Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s acting president since January 3-4, 2026, when the Supreme Court ordered her into the role after U.S. forces detained Nicolás Maduro.
—Oil exports. Venezuela’s crude exports fell 25% in July to 856,000 barrels a day, a five-month low, as Indian demand halved, according to Bloomberg and Kpler shipping data.
—Chevron. President Trump said on August 3, 2026 that Chevron is back in Venezuela “far bigger and stronger than ever before,” months after the firm expanded its PDVSA joint venture stakes.
—Chile outreach. Chile and Venezuela agreed on July 30, 2026 to reactivate consular relations, a first step toward normalizing ties broken since July 2024.
Washington says a three-phase plan for Venezuela is moving forward under acting President Delcy Rodríguez even as the country’s oil exports slide to a five-month low and Chevron’s return anchors Trump’s account of the country’s turnaround.
The Transition Plan
The U.S. State Department said on August 3, 2026 that it is “confident” its three-phase plan for Venezuela can “deliver tangible results,” citing progress from August 1 statements by Venezuela’s 2015 National Assembly, led by Dinorah Figuera, and the interim government (U.S. Department of State). Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the plan is designed “to bring about stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation and a transition to democratic elections.”
The plan was first outlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on January 7, 2026, days after U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolás Maduro. Rubio told reporters the first phase, stabilization, would give Washington “significant control and influence over the actions of those interim authorities,” including managing sales of Venezuelan crude at market prices (Reuters). The second phase, recovery, would ensure “American, Western, and other companies have fair access to the Venezuelan market” while starting national reconciliation steps such as the release of jailed opposition figures, Rubio said. “The final phase will, of course, involve a transition,” he added, without giving a timeline.
The most concrete recent step came on August 1, 2026, when U.S.-backed talks began in Caracas between members of Venezuela’s pro-government National Assembly, led by Jorge Rodríguez, and former opposition lawmakers led by Dinorah Figuera, focused on democratic institutions and electoral council reform after four earlier dialogue rounds failed between 2017 and 2024 (AP News). The State Department said it intends to “help facilitate, not dictate, a reconciliation process,” adding, “This will take time and patience.”
Who Is Delcy Rodríguez Now
Delcy Rodríguez has been Venezuela’s acting president since January 3-4, 2026, when the Constitutional Chamber of the country’s Supreme Court ordered her, as then-vice president, to assume the responsibilities of acting president after Nicolás Maduro was detained early that Saturday in an operation by U.S. forces (Reuters). The court said the move was meant “to ensure the continuity of administration and the comprehensive protection of the Nation.”
She has been referred to consistently as Venezuela’s acting or interim president in subsequent coverage, including by The Guardian, which reported in March 2026 that “Trump has permitted Rodríguez, formerly Maduro’s vice president, to ascend to the position of interim leader” following talks over U.S. access to Venezuela’s natural resources (The Guardian). Al Jazeera likewise described the removal of U.S. sanctions on “Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez” that April (Al Jazeera).
Under Rodríguez, Venezuela’s government has pushed economic changes that break with chavista orthodoxy, including restored ties with the IMF and World Bank, an announced restructuring of PDVSA and public external debt, and reforms opening the hydrocarbons and mining sectors to private capital, according to BBC Mundo (BBC Mundo). She has also spoken publicly of promoting a “non-oil export motor” to diversify the economy. Reuters reported that Venezuela’s central bank recorded 7.07% year-on-year GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, with non-oil sectors up 5.3% (Reuters).
Oil Exports Collapse
Venezuela’s crude exports, measured by vessel loadings, fell to 856,000 barrels a day in July 2026, down 25% from June and the lowest level in five months, according to shipping reports, data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler Ltd. and vessel movements tracked by Bloomberg (Bloomberg). Reuters, citing separate tanker-tracking data, reported a smaller pullback, with July shipments at about 1.16 million barrels a day versus roughly 1.2 million bpd in June (Reuters). The decline was driven mainly by weaker demand from India, where imports of Venezuelan crude roughly halved as a pause in the Iran conflict freed up Middle Eastern oil supplies that had been trapped in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. and India remained the largest buyers of Venezuelan crude in July, together accounting for the majority of shipments, while China has not imported any Venezuelan crude since Maduro’s removal, Bloomberg reported. The July figure marks a pullback within a broader rebound: Bloomberg has reported Venezuelan exports climbing from roughly 383,000 barrels a day in January 2026 to a five-month high of 788,000 barrels a day in February, and to 1.16 million barrels a day in April — a seven-year high.
The oil sector sits at the center of the U.S. transition plan’s stabilization phase, under which Washington has sought control over Venezuelan crude sales as part of efforts to stabilize the economy and generate revenue overseen by U.S. authorities, according to Reuters’ reporting on Rubio’s January briefing (Reuters).
Chevron Returns Under Trump
President Donald Trump said on August 3, 2026, in a Truth Social post reacting to Chevron CEO Mike Wirth’s interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, that Chevron’s turnaround in Venezuela vindicated his administration’s policies. “As an example, they threw Mike and Chevron out of Venezuela, but now they’re back, far bigger and stronger than ever before, expecting to make a fortune! That goes for other Oil Companies as well,” Trump wrote, according to the Economic Times (Economic Times). He also urged oil companies to “get your consumer (retail) oil prices down, now.”
Chevron, the only major U.S. oil firm that maintained a Venezuela presence through the Maduro era, recalled staff and resumed crude shipments to the U.S. Gulf Coast within days of Maduro’s January 2026 capture, and in February the U.S. Treasury issued general licenses letting Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol resume operations, with payments routed through a U.S.-controlled fund (Reuters).
In April 2026, Chevron signed agreements with state oil company PDVSA to raise its stake in the Petroindependencia joint venture from 35.8% to 49% and add the Ayacucho 8 block in the Orinoco Belt, in exchange for returning an offshore gas field and a smaller crude area to the Venezuelan state, France 24 reported, noting the deal was formalized in the presence of acting President Delcy Rodríguez (France 24). Chevron-PDVSA joint ventures were producing about 260,000 barrels a day as of April, roughly a quarter of national output.
Regional Realignment: Chile Focus
Chile and Venezuela announced on July 30, 2026 the start of a roadmap to progressively normalize bilateral relations, agreeing as a first stage to reactivate consular relations, according to Bloomberg and El País (Bloomberg; El País). Chilean President José Antonio Kast said, “As of today, Chile and Venezuela are beginning a new phase,” adding the agreement would allow the countries “to move forward on the tremendous challenges we face as countries on the same continent… related to security, migration, and economic development.”
The rapprochement follows a rupture dating to July 2024, when Venezuela withdrew its diplomatic staff from Chile and six other countries after then-President Gabriel Boric publicly questioned the Venezuelan electoral council’s declaration that Maduro had won that year’s disputed presidential election. El País reported that talks between Santiago and Caracas began quietly on March 11, 2026, the day Kast took office, and were conducted discreetly until the July 30 announcement.
The joint declaration, issued under Rodríguez’s government and Kast’s, frames the consular reactivation as a step toward eventual full diplomatic normalization, without a timeline for restoring embassies or ambassadors. An estimated 700,000 Venezuelans live in Chile and about 25,000 Chileans live in Venezuela, and both governments said the immediate aim is to restore consular protection and services for those citizens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Delcy Rodríguez officially Venezuela’s president?
She holds the title of acting or interim president, a role assigned by Venezuela’s Supreme Court on January 3-4, 2026 after Nicolás Maduro was detained by U.S. forces. She was previously vice president under Maduro, and news organizations including Reuters, the Guardian, Al Jazeera and AP consistently describe her as acting or interim president rather than an elected head of state.
What are the three phases of the U.S. plan for Venezuela?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the phases in January 2026 as stabilization (largely economic, centered on U.S. oversight of oil sales), recovery (market access for foreign companies and initial reconciliation steps) and transition (moving toward a democratic government and elections). U.S. officials have not given firm dates for when each phase ends.
Why did Venezuela’s oil exports drop in July?
Bloomberg reported the 25% drop to 856,000 barrels a day was driven mainly by weaker demand from India, where imports of Venezuelan crude fell by about half after a pause in the Iran conflict freed up alternative Middle Eastern oil supplies. The U.S. and India remained Venezuela’s top buyers even after the decline.
Sources
U.S. Department of State · Reuters · AP News · Bloomberg · The Guardian
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Sources: U.S. Department of State (state.gov), Reuters, AP News, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, France 24, BBC Mundo, Economic Times, El País.
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