US Seizes $12bn Venezuelan Oil Flows, Squeezing China and Russia Out

Venezuela exported no crude oil to China in 2026, according to the US Energy Information Administration, ending Beijing's run as the country's largest oil customer and handing that position to the United States for the first time in nearly a decade.

The EIA's November 6 report confirmed a complete halt in Venezuelan shipments to China, which had taken an average of 642,000 barrels per day of crude and fuel oil in 2025. That volume represented 75% of Venezuela's total exports of 847,000 barrels per day.

Washington has filled the gap. American imports of Venezuelan crude peaked at 701,000 barrels per day in July 2026, the highest level since May 2017, before easing to 655,000 barrels per day in August. October shipping data showed Venezuela exporting 1.08 million barrels per day of oil and petroleum products in total, with US-bound shipments averaging 449,000 barrels daily, down nearly 29% from September.

The shift began after US forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026. Since then, President Donald Trump's administration has expanded American involvement across Venezuela's oil industry, from crude purchases to oilfield concessions and supply contracts.

How did Russia and China lose their positions?

Russia's losses centred on petroleum supplies and oilfield investments rather than crude purchases. Moscow had supplied roughly 100,000 metric tonnes of naphtha per month, a diluent needed to make Venezuela's heavy crude transportable, before American suppliers took over much of that business in January 2026.

Chinese operators fared no better on the concessions front. In August, North American Blue Energy Partners, controlled by Venezuelan billionaire Alejandro Betancourt, secured concessions covering 17 Venezuelan oilfields. Five had previously been run by Chinese companies and one by a Russian firm. Trump described the agreement as "the biggest oil deal in world history."

Who controls Venezuela's resource revenues?

A US State Department report released on November 12 showed Washington handled $12.26 billion in Venezuelan revenues from crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, gold, minerals and fertilisers between January and September 2026. Nearly 99% of that money was returned to the country's interim government.

The arrangement gives US-backed institutions effective control over the distribution of Venezuela's export earnings, extending American influence well beyond the barrel trade itself.

What is happening to US imports from Nigeria?

While US refiners gained privileged access to Venezuelan crude, their purchases from Nigeria collapsed as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery absorbed more of the country's output for domestic processing.

US Census Bureau figures cited by BusinessDay on October 28 showed American imports of Nigerian crude fell 57.8% to 14.01 million barrels between January and August 2026, compared with 33.23 million barrels over the same period in 2025. The decline steepened in weekly EIA data: imports dropped 91% year on year, from 136,000 barrels per day to 12,000 barrels per day in the week ending November 6, 2026.

Aliko Dangote's refinery secured at least 16 million barrels of Nigerian crude in October alone, equivalent to 520,000 barrels per day. Total deliveries to the plant reached a record 735,000 barrels daily, with Nigerian grades covering 80% of supplies, according to Argus tracking data.

Nigeria's export profile is changing in parallel. Seaborne exports of refined petroleum products rose from an annual average of 46,000 barrels per day in 2023 to 350,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, EIA data showed. The country now ships finished fuels abroad rather than only raw crude.

For US refiners, the two shifts compound: Venezuelan barrels arrive under Washington-controlled channels while Nigerian barrels increasingly stay at home for Dangote's processing. With the $12.26 billion revenue arrangement running through September and October US-bound volumes already down 29% month on month, the durability of the new Venezuela-US energy corridor — and the price US buyers will pay to keep it — remains the open question for 2027.