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Wright Discusses U.S. Marketing of Venezuelan Crude on Fox News

January 8, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:09:47

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright joined Fox News on January 8, 2026, according to the Department of Energy, after White House remarks quoted in the segment said the U.S. government had begun marketing Venezuelan crude in the global marketplace, with funds disbursed for the benefit of the American and Venezuelan people at U.S. discretion, as stated there. Wright denied the arrangement is a takeover or stealing Venezuela’s oil, as he stated it.

Wright said the United States is enforcing sanctions that had been ignored, marketing Venezuela’s crude at better prices with faster payment, and putting the money in an account the U.S. government controls, to be returned to Venezuela at U.S. discretion as leverage for reforms — stopping drug dealing and other criminality — as he stated it. He said interim authorities in Venezuela want improved living conditions and called the deal a win for both countries, as he stated it.

On production, Wright said Venezuela produces 800,000 to 900,000 barrels a day today, could reach 1.2 million barrels a day within several months — up 50 percent in the first 12 to 18 months, roughly doubling oil revenue — and could ultimately reach four to six million barrels a day over about a decade under a fair, representative government, as he stated the figures. He said China will continue buying Venezuelan oil while illicit trade with Iran and Russia is stopped, as he stated it, and that gas at $2 a gallon nationally would be tough since it has not been seen in decades, though some stations already sell at $1.99, as he stated it.

Why it matters

The interview defines the Venezuela oil arrangement as its architect stated it in its first week — U.S.-controlled revenue as reform leverage, not seizure — and sets the first production benchmark, 1.2 million barrels a day within months, as he stated it.

Scoreboard watch

Wright stated Venezuelan production could rise from 800,000–900,000 barrels a day to 1.2 million within months, up 50 percent in 12 to 18 months, as he stated the figures — checkable against subsequent production data.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Fox News’ Sandra Smith & John Roberts - January 8, 2026”, 2026-01-08 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-01-08). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.