The Trump administration intends to oversee the sale of Venezuela's oil indefinitely and roll back some sanctions to enable transport and sales on global markets, with proceeds settling in U.S.-controlled accounts, two sources told ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott in an X post shared between 2:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. UTC on January 7, 2026. Scott reported that CNBC was first to disclose the plan during the 29-minute reporting window. The move builds on President Donald J. Trump's January 7 announcement that Venezuelan interim authorities will transfer 30-50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States, as quoted in prior X posts. Meanwhile, workers at Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) recorded videos defending Nicolás Maduro and criticizing U.S. intervention, according to an X post by @ICHOOSEHATE during the window, which referenced 30,000 barrels of crude oil in a satirical context. These developments follow U.S. Coast Guard seizures of two sanctioned Venezuelan-linked tankers earlier on January 7, including the M/V Bella 1 and M/T Sophia, as announced by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
