A U.S.-controlled account set up after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's ouster received more than $12 billion during the first nine months of 2026, according to a confidential report compiled by KPMG.
The figures come from a confidential report compiled by KPMG and reviewed by The New York Times, whose reporting — co-authored by White House correspondent Tyler Pager and Venezuela correspondent Anatoly Kurmanaev — lays out how the account was created, who controlled it, and where the money ultimately landed. The account was first based in Qatar before moving to Citibank in New York in late January.
The timeline traces back to U.S. military action on January 3, when U.S. forces toppled Maduro's government. The Trump administration then installed what the Times reporting describes as a pliant interim government and charged it with opening Venezuela's oil industry to American investment — setting the stage for the Treasury to create the custody account to manage the country's export revenues going forward.
Where the Money Came From, and Where It Went
Venezuelan oil revenues flowed through the custody arrangement, and certain gold purchases were licensed with payments into the custody funds. Trafigura and Vitol helped sell Venezuelan oil in early deals.
More than $12 billion was disbursed from the account during the first nine months of 2026.
The U.S. government established custodial control over Venezuelan natural-resource revenue deposits this year.
Currency Auctions Amid a Dollar Shortage
Venezuela has continued to rely on foreign-currency auctions amid a shortage of dollars.
Reuters reported that analysts estimated 13 percent fewer dollars were available in early 2026 than in early 2025. It also reported that some Venezuelan companies have turned to cryptocurrencies or unofficial exchange markets to cope with the dollar shortage.
Figures That Don't Quite Line Up
The scale of the money involved has been described differently across reports at different points this year. The Times headline cites the more-than-$12-billion figure spanning the first nine months, while the Financial Times, in a calculation republished by Financial Post, put U.S. revenue from Venezuelan oil sales at more than $13 billion as of July 22 — a separate measure. Earlier accounts put the numbers much smaller: Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, said in January that the country had received $300 million from a U.S.-brokered oil sale, which she said came from a larger $500 million sale and would be used to support the bolivar, according to Le Monde.
CNBC reported that Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the $500 million was first deposited into the Qatar-based account before the administration set up the Treasury account and stopped routing money through Qatar. The funds were ultimately held at Citibank, and Rubio has discussed audits of them. A State Department witness reported authorizing about $3 billion in disbursements.
The Council on Foreign Relations has tracked the growth of the U.S.-controlled oil trade in parallel, estimating that the value of exports rose from $600 million in January to about $3.7 billion in April alone, with daily volume climbing from roughly 380,000 to 1.1 million barrels. By June, the organization estimated nearly 100 million barrels worth about $8 billion had moved through U.S.-controlled exports in the first four months of the arrangement.
New Players, New Arrangements
A strategic partnership gives the U.S. government a 35 percent stake in NABEP and discounted purchase rights for 20 percent of its oil. Certain gold purchases were licensed with payments into the custody funds.
Congressional Democrats have vowed to bring greater transparency and accountability to Washington's Venezuela policy, and they stand to gain more oversight power in January 2027 after winning control of both chambers, according to the Times reporting. Venezuela's government, the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. State Department and KPMG did not immediately respond to requests for comment, per the same report.
