The U.S. Department of Energy is weighing a plan to swap heavy Venezuelan oil for U.S. medium sour crude to help refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), two people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
The Trump administration is considering moving the Venezuelan barrels into storage tanks at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, where they could later be shipped to refineries. In return, companies would provide U.S. medium sour crude that can be sent directly into the SPR caverns.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Energy via email on Friday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
Following the United States’ capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, President Donald Trump has spoken of his interest in having U.S. oil companies work in Venezuela to help grow its oil industry. Experts have also been watching to see how the Trump administration’s moves in the South American country would impact the American energy industry and its reserves.
What To Know
Physical exchanges like these have been used in the past to both acquire and release oil, but they are not common. More often, financial agreements between countries or companies allow variable and fixed prices to be swapped to regulate the market instead.
It was not immediately clear how the plan being drawn up by the DOE, as reported by Reuters, would work, but Trump has said previously that all Venezuelan oil would come under the control of the U.S. following Maduro’s capture.
Last week, Texas Representative August Pfluger was among GOP lawmakers who argued that using the Venezuelan stock to refill the SPR would be a cheap way to achieve energy stability.
Using Venezuelan heavy oil to bolster SPR reserves could strengthen U.S. energy security, but storing the sulfur-rich crude would not necessarily be viable, as it could damage the infrastructure at the Louisiana site.
Instead, the medium sour U.S. crude cited in the proposal could be used to restock the SPR, leaving the Venezuelan barrels in storage, ready for use elsewhere.
On January 7, the DOE said the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela would lead to “prosperity and peace” in the Western Hemisphere, in part due to efforts to sell Venezuelan oil and use the proceeds for “the benefit of the American people.” It also promised cooperation with Venezuelan authorities, so that their citizens would also benefit from U.S. involvement.
What People Are Saying
Representative August Pfluger said on Fox Business on January 9: “I think that the Venezuelan barrels of oil right now, some of the tankers that have been seized, and what President Trump has done should be used to refill our Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a discounted rate. They stole our assets. Let’s refill the reserve. By the way, Biden completely drained our reserve for political reasons. Over 300 million barrels still remain to be filled. Let’s fill that up at a discounted rate right now.”
President Trump said at a roundtable with energy executives on January 9: “The plan is for them to spend at least $100 billion of their money. Not the government money. They don’t need government money but they need government protection and security that they spend all this money it’s going to be there so they get their money back and make a very nice return. The plan is for them to spend at least $100 billion to rebuild the capacity and infrastructure necessary.”
What Happens Next
The DOE has yet to publicly comment on the proposal.
Update 1/16/26, 3:35 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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