Trump Welcomes China, India Investment in Venezuelan Oil

US President Donald Trump said he welcomes investment by China and India in Venezuela’s oil sector, signaling a major shift in Washington’s approach to Caracas as sweeping regulatory changes reshape the country’s energy industry and redirect crude exports.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday en route to his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said China would be “welcome” to enter Venezuela’s oil industry and strike what he described as “a good deal.” He also revealed that the United States has reached an understanding with India to purchase Venezuelan oil as a replacement for Iranian supplies.

“India is coming and will buy oil from Venezuela instead of Iran,” Trump said. “We’ve already reached an agreement, at least a framework for one.”

Trump’s remarks come days after Venezuela’s acting president signed landmark amendments to the country’s national oil policy, cutting taxes and allowing greater ownership stakes for foreign oil companies. The reforms were introduced less than a month after US forces arrested former president Nicolás Maduro, a move that dramatically altered Venezuela’s political and economic trajectory.

Following the policy shift, the US Treasury issued a broad general license expanding the ability of American companies to export, sell and refine Venezuelan crude, despite longstanding sanctions on the South American nation.

The Trump administration is now expected to oversee the largest inflow of Venezuelan oil into the United States in more than a year, as it seeks to secure energy supplies while pressing oil companies to invest up to $100 billion in rebuilding Venezuela’s long-neglected oil infrastructure.

While the US has emerged as the primary destination for Venezuelan crude following Maduro’s removal, shipments to China have fallen sharply. Exports to China, which averaged about 400,000 barrels per day last year, dropped to zero in January, according to shipping data, amid intensified US naval enforcement targeting the so-called “shadow fleet” used to transport sanctioned oil.

Most Venezuelan oil arriving in the United States is supplied by Chevron, which holds a US license allowing it to market sanctioned Venezuelan crude. Roughly 20% of shipments are being handled by commodity trading giants Trafigura Group and Vitol Group, firms enlisted by the Trump administration to help sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil following Maduro’s ouster in early January.

Bloomberg data shows Vitol and Trafigura are expected to ship around 14 million barrels of Venezuelan crude. A significant portion of those volumes had originally been loaded onto vessels bound for China before January. Traders redirected about 9 million barrels into storage facilities across the Caribbean, while the remaining shipments are now headed to the United States and Europe.