Venezuela’s Oil Flow to the U.S. 1/7/26

0:00Bring in show music, please. This is Squawk Pod and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa. On today's episode, unpacking the flow of Venezuelan oil to the United States. We start at President Trump's announcement last night of 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil with CNBC's Eamon Javers. What is this attainment for? Did the United States agree to anything on its side in exchange for this oil? And then we follow with news from CNBC's Brian Sullivan, who shares new comments from his White House sources. That sort of implied maybe a one-time assumption of that Venezuelan oil. What I am reporting right now from the White House is that that will be a continued source of Venezuelan oil.

0:51So Venezuela will give oil to the United States government, who will then sell it to U.S. oil companies. — This is oil that would have normally been rerouted to, say, a China. This is previously sanctioned oil. — Proceeds from the sales of Venezuelan oil — well, those will return to Venezuela at the president's discretion. That big news, plus it has been one year since the devastating L.A. fires. MSNOW senior political and national reporter Jacob Soboroff covered the disaster then, and now he's written a book about it. How do you watch your childhood neighborhood carbonize in front of your own eyeballs as you are covering it live on national television?

1:32It's Wednesday, January 7th, 2026, and Squawk Pod begins right now. Stand Becky by in three, two, one, cue it please. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We are live from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square. I'm Becky Quick along with Joe Kernan and Andrew Ross Sorkin. There's another bet being made, and this is about whether President Trump is going to try to take over Greenland, and if so, how he has those designs on the island. His announcement that Venezuela will be sending tens of millions of barrels of crude oil to the U.S., the other big topic of the morning in Washington.

2:11We're going to go over to Eamon Javris right now, who's got the latest on Greenland, Venezuela, and so much more, sir. Yeah, good morning, Andrew. President Trump announced last night on social media that the interim authorities in Venezuela will send between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. This oil will be sold at its market price and that money will be controlled by me as president of the United States of America to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States, the president said. I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan immediately.

2:45It will be taken by storage ships and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States. That from the president of the United States last night on social media. Now, it's not clear whether this is to be a one-time payment or an ongoing program. And who exactly the president concluded this agreement with in Venezuela? White House officials did not respond to our questions about the president's post last night. Now, separately, guys, as you mentioned late yesterday, the White House raised the prospect of using military force to take Greenland from Denmark and make it a U.S. territory, a move that threatens a direct confrontation between two NATO allies for the first time in history.

3:26Now, in a statement, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said, President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal. And of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief's disposal. Danish Prime Minister Mette Friedrichsen Tuesday responded to this increasing belligerence from the Trump administration, saying, I believe he means it, and adding, the international community as we know it, democratic rules of the game, NATO, the world's strongest defensive alliance.

4:11All of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another. Now, the Wall Street Journal guys reported Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in a closed-door session that the bellicose comments don't signal an imminent invasion, but that the administration's goal here is to buy Greenland from Denmark. Now, those comments from Marco Rubio came up on Capitol Hill in that closed door session before we saw that on the record statement from Caroline Levitt raising the prospect of military action. So you do get the sense that at least rhetorically the White House and the State Department are not entirely on the same page here.

4:50Guys, back over to you. So, Eamon, let's go through both stories for a moment here. Let's go first on the oil front. Is it possible that there's an agreement with anybody in Venezuela about this oil. Who ultimately has to refine such oil? What would be the... We'd refine it here. They'd just send the oil. I understand that, but the question is that we're just commandeering. What do you mean we would refine it? We're commandeering the oil and then we're sending it here and then we're handing it. We're just handing it to which company? To which companies? How would this even begin to work? All of that unclear, Andrew.

5:24And as I say, the White House didn't respond to my questions last night about this. One of the big sort of first principle questions is, what is this a payment for, right? Did the United States agree to anything on its side in exchange for this oil? And we just don't know that. We don't know who this agreement was struck with. Was this the now acting president of Venezuela, Rodriguez, who signed off on this deal? But do we believe who we signed off on? And did the United States commit to anything in exchange for that? Do we think there was a signed off deal of any sort at all? We don't know. No, we'll have to see what Venezuela has to say today.

5:58Yeah, we'll have to see what Venezuela has to say today. I mean, you've seen this in the past with trade deals with President Trump, where he has said that the other side of the transaction has agreed to things, and then we just can't get confirmation from the other side that they agreed to that particular thing for days or sometimes weeks. And it also suggests that they're in agreement. If it's a payment for taking Maduro, for example, from them, that would suggest that there are people in that government. that she was a maduro ally is it that's why it doesn't make sense look is it a payment for the question is what is it a payment for yeah it was is a payment for for some of the things that were for her being able to stay she's not the the uh leader of of choice obviously because she's still a maduro uh ally this is a mafia situation i'll let you stay if you give me oil and but let you stay but you have that's the question was there you have to guarantee you have to guarantee free and fair elections within the next year i think they said amen john thune the majority leader said there's no serious talk about uh a military intervention in greenland i mean there was serious talk by the white house press secretary on the record i know that that's not going to be the case i don't know whether he can that's the view i think with in the republican party more than than And this could be more negotiating with a lot of bluster on the front end and really wanting to buy.

7:27But then people point out we owe$40 trillion right now. I mean, we could probably get the money to buy Greenland. The Journal says that. Why do you want it? You can get closer to Greenland, get everything you want without doing this. Right. And without the idea of a military incursion. Maybe this is just, you know, you ask for the world and you settle. But if this is the case, why doesn't the White House just say this is not doing it? Because they never do. You've been watching it. You had four years to watch this stuff play out the first time. Now you've had another year this time. Do you find it?

8:01It's never going to satisfy. Is that defensible? It's never going to satisfy. It's never going to be defensible for you. But you're saying it's defensible for you? With a cat, sooner or later when you clap, the cat just goes like this. with you, it's the same reaction every time. Yes. I know. Well, eventually. It's gotta be. Okay. Otherwise, it's gonna lull you to sleep. But why did, when the Biden administration clapped, you were already like this. So that's what I mean. That's the only difference. The only thing I will say is the NATO reaction, it's not a situation where you want to completely alienate your allies.

8:36No, this is true. This is true. It's on the same tectonic plate as the United States. I mean, it's Really? It's not on the European. Guys, one quick question here. This is very old, but it does look almost like imperialistic. One quick question. A return to that mindset. Amen. Yeah, I was just going to say one quick question that folks raised with me. I was talking to two former high ranking U.S. intelligence officials last night. And, you know, when you talk about a NATO ally attacking another NATO ally, that's the end of the NATO alliance. That's a huge division between the United States and Europe.

9:13And one of the questions that they raised with me is whether or not the U.S. military would follow an order by the president of the United States to attack a NATO ally in a war of territorial aggression. You know, given the questionable legality of that, would U.S. military leaders execute an order from the president? Remember, the U.S. military trains alongside the forces from Denmark and Greenland. So a lot of those folks in the U.S. military who are in Greenland know their counterparts in the other military very closely and have trained with them for years. Would they follow in order to then shoot those people?

9:48That's an open question here. And the fact that you're looking at that is very, very stark and dramatic. And I think the White House has really raised a whole host of big, big questions here. Right. And now you sound like how many Democrats were there. Mark Kelly is dealing with the still the repercussions of saying don't follow orders from the commander in chief as well. Now we know also, Eamon, that there were there were deaths down in that in that operation. And just apparently, once again, affirmed by the Trump administration, no, no American deaths, but Cuban and 60 or so deaths in extracting.

10:25I think the report yesterday was 75. 75. Extracting Maduro. Wow. New Year's start now with a lot to talk about. Teas will be next. Coming up on Squawk Pod, breaking from the White House. CNBC's Brian Sullivan has news on the flow of Venezuelan oil to the United States. Oil sales from Venezuela to the U.S. and the Western world will be more than 50 million barrels of oil. That was not a one-time thing. A big shift in the global oil trade right after this. This is all happening real time. Venezuelan sanctions will be rolled back.

11:13You're listening to Squawk Pod with Becky Quick, Joe Kernan, and Andrew Ross-Organ. Here's Becky. We do have some breaking news on the Venezuela oil numbers. Brian Sullivan joins us for more on that. Brian, good morning. Yeah, good morning. Here we are at the Goldman Sachs Energy, Clean Tech, and Utilities Conference in Miami, Florida. And I've got some breaking news from sources close to the White House. You saw the news maybe last night that the president put out on his social media that Venezuela would sell the United States 30 to 50 million barrels of oil. Well, I'm here to report that is only the first tranche, that it will continue indefinitely.

11:47So oil sales from Venezuela to the U.S. and the Western world will be more than 50 million barrels of oil. That was not a one-time thing. That was not a one-time announcement that the sales from Venezuela to the United States and other Western nations will continue indefinitely. So 30 to 50 million barrels, which is roughly 15 to 25 supertankers worth of oil, that will continue indefinitely. indefinitely. Here's some other breaking news. As part of that deal, Venezuelan sanctions will be rolled back. They will be dialed back, kind of a carrot, if you will, according to my sources, over that. So in other words, Venezuela will sell the United States and the Western world sanctioned oil, oil that would have normally gone to, say, a China, is now going to be sold or rerouted to the United States or other Western refiners that can handle the heavy, sour, crude that is Venezuela, the proceeds from those sales will largely go back to Venezuela or the United States.

12:53But the breaking news is that we're going to have more than 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil by far sold, that that oil will be sold to the United States and Western nations, and some of that money will be put back into Venezuela. We're confused. I mean, that's a different story than we've thought to this point where it was going to be the oil that was given to the united states given to us and then we were going to sell we were going to sell the money what what what do you know that so this is they're selling it yes this is this is all happening this yes this is all happening real time this is breaking news i don't believe it's out anywhere else i'm here to report its sources close to the white house uh i just off the phone minutes ago are telling me that the united states is going to acquire more than 50 million barrels of oil That is the first tranche as part of that deal, long-term deal.

13:44Venezuelan sanctions, it's not out anywhere else. Venezuelan sanctions will be rolled back. This is happening right now. What I'm trying to understand is this is part of a negotiation. Who has negotiated this deal on the Venezuelan side? How is this even working? They said we were getting this. The president said they were giving this oil to us and we were going to sell it. and then the proceeds were going to be used to help Venezuela and the United States. This is them selling to the United States and other countries sanctioned oil. This is completely different. Are they fixing that story, Brian?

14:22Because it was a weird story. We were talking about it earlier. Why is it? Was it blackmail that they're giving us? Or was it to make up for assets that have been seized from U.S. companies? Yeah, I've got all three of my good friends talking at the same time. Let me take one question at a time. First to Joe. So first to Joe, the story is evolving. I don't want to say fixing the story. What we saw from the president last night, 30 to 50 million barrels of oil, that sort of implied maybe a one-time assumption of that Venezuelan oil. What I am reporting right now from the White House is that that will be a continued source of Venezuelan oil.

14:59I don't know the price at which we will acquire that oil, whether it will be given to us or whether we will simply buy it at a discount. There's not many refineries that can accommodate this heavy, crude, sour oil. But this is oil, and I think Becky mentioned this, this is oil that would have normally been rerouted to, say, a China. This is previously sanctioned oil. Remember, about one-third of Venezuelan oil, not all Venezuelan oil, about one-third is sanctioned. This is the sanctioned oil that would have gone to China or another nation that is now going to be rerouted to the U.S. or the Western world.

15:37The proceeds will be put largely back into Venezuela for the benefit of the Venezuelan people and help rebuild some of their capital infrastructure. So, Brian, here's what I'm kind of reading on this. If this is the case, if they are now saying that we're going to be getting all the oil that used to go to China, this almost sounds like it's a tit for tat with China saying we're not going to give you any more access to rare material or rare earths. And now we're trying to fix that. But this is a this is a global play for major resources and commodities that are that are here as part of all of this.

16:16but it sounds like from what you're hearing is those sales will simply be made to us and to other of our allies versus going to China. And we don't know exactly what the price is for those. But this is not something like getting our money back for anything that's been taken from U.S. assets in the past when they nationalized all those assets. Yes, I'm going to give you some more details because I want to get it right here on what sources close to the White House just sent to me. The United States is selectively rolling back sanctions to enable the transport and sale of Venezuelan crude and oil products to global markets.

16:53Those funds will be dispersed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. The sales begin immediately with the anticipated sale of 30 to 50 million barrels. They will continue indefinitely. There is no mention of price. What price that oil, whether it's to Joe's point, sort of given to us? Apologies for the noise behind us. The implication initially was that for some reason they were giving the United States 30 to 50. And Andrew rightly pointed out this makes that's impossible. This makes no sense. It would have to be in repayment for something or to stay in power. It brought up all kinds of quid pro quo with whether Delcy made the deal so she could remain in power.

17:38I mean, it brought up all kinds of it. It's totally different if they're just freeing up what they used to sell to China and now selling it to us and to other Western nations. That's totally different than getting 50 million barrels of free oil and using three billion dollars. I will say this. A hundred percent. You asked me for specific names on who the U.S. is making this deal with. I do not have a Delce Rodriguez. What I do have are interim Venezuelan authorities. This deal is being made between the United States Department of Energy and interim Venezuelan authorities. The breaking news, we're going to reroute that sanctioned, that's key, sanctioned oil.

18:19And it will be more than 50 million barrels a day. Real quick, by the way, Brent, down marginally right now. But more importantly, you think about the companies that can refine this oil. And to the extent this is an opportunity for them, maybe we can put some of the big energy stocks up on the screen. Valero would probably pop on this news. Again, this is all happening real time. I don't have any computers or anything around me. All right, let's just take an intraday of Valero real quickly. Take a look at it. You're looking at Valero. You're right, Brian. It's up by 3.3%. 3%. Marathon. Petroleum up about a percent.

18:54If I remember, Elliott Management had bought part of Citgo, which I do think was one of the companies that actually can refine some of this stuff. The subsidiary of Citgo. Elliott Management's in a proxy fight with Phillips 66, but Valero, PSX, Phillips 66, to a lesser extent, some of the other refiners would be. I'm going to have more. Listen, Chris Wright's about ready to speak here at the Goldman Sachs Energy Clean Tech and Utilities Conference. I'll get more headlines we have on this. This is breaking news. and we're going to be interviewing the Secretary of Interviewee exclusively in Power Lunch live, live today in the two o 'clock hour, although maybe it'll happen earlier now.

19:28I don't know. Okay. Brian, this is a fantastic thank you for bringing all of this to you and we look forward to hearing that interview later and getting more details on this. Again, Brian Sullivan, who is live at the Goldman Sachs Energy Conference and we'll be talking to the Energy Secretary later today.

19:47I want to get back to Brian Sullivan, who just broke that story about what's taking place between the White House and Venezuela as it relates to this oil situation. Brian? Yeah, because the White House watching our reporting just a minute ago and sources close to the White House letting me know that they wanted to not clarify anything, but just add some color to some of the questions that you had. I'm going to take my phone, you forgive me here, and throw it across the room. There we go. The oil will be given, to Joe's point, given to the United States. We will not buy the oil, but we will sell the oil.

20:22The proceeds of that money will then be kept in various American banks. I do not know which banks they will be kept in. Maybe it will be dispersed around a bunch of American banks. The proceeds of those sales, which as I just reported, will be over 50 million barrels. The proceeds will be kept in American banks. And then when the president and his team deem that the Venezuelan government and infrastructure is ready and stable and secure enough to receive some of those funds, they will receive those funds back into Venezuela for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. So in other words, it's kind of the carrot.

20:57We're going to get oil from Venezuela. We will sell it. Market it is the term around the world. Those funds will be kept by the United States, held in various American banks, and then dispersed largely or entirely back to the Venezuelan people for their use once it is deemed that the country is stable and safe enough. And as part of that, as I reported earlier, the sanctions will be rolled back. Brian, that sounds like a conservative. Yeah, and it goes back to Venezuela. It doesn't go for it. It's not for the American people, but I guess indirectly it's good for commerce. It will sit in American banks.

21:31Right, but the proceeds go back to Venezuela. But it sounds like they are working on a way to try and root out the corruption and make sure that it's being spent on infrastructure projects going back in. Yeah, you don't want to send a billion dollars. Potentially being held to say we want to make sure we approve of this government. Yeah. But the thing that I'm trying to understand, Brian, and maybe you can help us with this, this is ongoing, so it's not just a one-time scenario. We will be getting effectively free oil from Venezuela. oil? How much free oil are we going to be getting for the foreseeable future?

22:03And then how is it priced? 30 to 50 million, 30 to 50 million. So it's going to be priced on the global market price. So let's just, let's just do some very rough math. The first tranche, which is happening now, 30 to 50 million barrels as the president put out last night, call it$50 a barrel. I'm making the number up roughly on the, on the wholesale market. That's$2 billion. Okay. $2 billion. We will continue 30 to 50 million barrels in perpetuity. There is no end date. So it could be 100 million or 200 million or a billion barrels of oil. Whatever that oil is sold for on the market will come into American banks.

22:39American banks will sit on that money until the Venezuelan government is deemed to be secure enough, stable enough, safe enough, and to Becky's point, sort of free from fraud enough that some of that money can be put back into Venezuela for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. And as part of this deal, sanctions on that Venezuelan oil will be rolled back, kind of the carrot versus the stick. We'll lift the sanctions if you let us sell it and hold on to the proceeds until we deem the government as one that will safely use the money. Brian, does it go to the Treasury first? It would have to go to the Treasury first, I think, and then go to the banks.

23:16That's what I'm hearing from budget type. Do we get a finder's fee? I don't know the answer to that. Do we get anything out of it, a finder's fee? I hope we don't know that's going to be a lot more questions. Yeah, I know. That wouldn't work. This would work. Well, we're getting the oil. Yeah, to your point, we're getting the oil. So the finder's fee effectively would be the sale of the price of oil. Now, whatever price that would deem, I assume it's going to be the fair market value around the world. But then it goes back. A lot of, again, you're asking all the right questions. This is why you guys are the best of the business.

23:49There are some unanswered questions at this point, obviously, throughout the day here. I will do my best to acquire said answers. And you've got the energy secretary coming up, and he can clarify all of that as well. So the two social posts were right. But we didn't realize that it meant most of the proceeds eventually go back to that as well. We're not going to. I mean, that makes more sense. I hope it does. Yes, some. I don't know if it's all or some of the proceeds, but I appreciate our entire team for letting me hop on a plane last night and come down here, guys. Thank you. Brian, thank you.

24:23And we'll be watching later. Next up on Squawk Pod, the L.A. fires one year later. MSNOW senior political and national reporter Jacob Soboroff covered the disaster live on TV. And he's now written a book about the devastation and the recovery. 16 ,000 structures were destroyed. 31 people were killed. An area three times the size of Manhattan burned down in what is now the costliest wildfire event in the history of the United States of America. Plus the personal side of his story right after this.

25:08This is Squawk Pod. Welcome back, everybody. It is 8 a.m. on the East Coast, and you're watching Squawk Box right here on CNBC. I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernan and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Today is one year since the devastating Los Angeles fires began. They destroyed thousands of homes, 40 ,000 acres, and killed more than 30 people. Joining us right now is Jacob Soberoff, MSNOW, senior political and national reporter, and he's the author of a new book. It's called Firestorm, the great Los Angeles fires in America's new age of disaster. you were there on the ground as all this was going on and you spent the last year writing about it.

25:42We all watched this with some trepidation and terror for so many families and people who lost homes. And we've all now, a year later, trying to understand, as you just asked, do we know people who lost homes? Everybody knows somebody. Everybody knows somebody. Thank you guys for having me, by the way. But where I was going to go with this is, a year later, it doesn't feel like, from an economic perspective, people are rebuilding there not even close is that yes do we know it was a lot of do it do you know anyone who has rebuilt their home no my life and how about how about people's home survived and will still not move back into their homes because they're worried about the environmental conditions including my own little brother who lost the house that he was living in with his wife and uh you know soon to be born baby and i think people are terrified about the circumstances i just read a study that is a forty percent of the lots that were sold uh at the end of last year went to corporate investors not to locals.