U.S. Sends $500 Million in Oil Cash Back to Venezuela to Jumpstart Economy
The U.S. just made a major move to help get Venezuela back on its feet. On Tuesday, February 3, 2026, the government finished sending $500 million back to Venezuela. This money comes from the first big sale of Venezuelan oil since the U.S. military operation in early January that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
This is a big deal because it’s the first part of a much larger plan. Following the removal of Maduro, the Trump administration promised to help fix Venezuela’s broken economy.
The U.S. has been holding onto billions of dollars from oil sales in a special protected account to make sure the money actually goes toward helping people—like paying government workers and providing food and medicine—rather than being snatched by creditors to pay off the country’s massive old debts.
So far, the plan seems to be working. In the capital city of Caracas, the local currency has started to stabilize, and the crazy-high price increases (inflation) have slowed down a bit. To keep the momentum going, the U.S. has also given American oil companies the green light to start trading with Venezuela again. This should help the country produce even more oil—roughly 200,000 more barrels a day by the end of the year.
While things are looking up, there’s still a long way to go. Venezuela’s oil equipment has been falling apart for years, and it will take a lot of work and money from U.S. oil giants to fix it.
For now, the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, is working with Washington to make sure the “oil for money” deal keeps flowing smoothly.