Taken together, these dynamics point to a broader reality: Venezuela’s oil sector is operating under what Shalhoub describes as U.S. “tutelage.” While the political system remains largely intact domestically, the country’s most strategic asset, its oil industry, is no longer fully sovereign. Decisions around exports, revenue flows, and even future investment are shaped externally, particularly by Washington. This creates a hybrid system where formal ownership remains Venezuelan, but functional control does not. Importantly, Shalhoub suggests this arrangement may be temporary, tied to the current U.S. administration. Still, it underscores a striking shift, Venezuela as an oil producer without full autonomy over its own resources.
De facto U.S. control over PDVSA’s oil exports
Venezuela’s oil industry may still carry the PDVSA name, but in practice, control over exports has shifted decisively away from the state. According to Jose Shalhoub, U.S.-licensed trading houses such as Trafigura and Vitol now determine the flow of Venezuelan crude, effectively managing “every single cargo.” This marks a profound structural change: a national oil company sidelined in its own core function. While framed as a mechanism to stabilize output and reintroduce Venezuela into global markets, it raises deeper questions about sovereignty. When foreign-approved intermediaries control logistics, destinations, and transactions, PDVSA becomes less an operator and more a symbolic entity.
Revenue flows are externally controlled via the U.S. financial system
Control over oil exports is only part of the story, the more consequential shift lies in who controls the money. Shalhoub highlights that revenues from Venezuelan oil sales are routed through U.S. banks, with delays and restrictions in transferring funds back to Caracas. This financial architecture effectively places Venezuela’s primary source of national income under external oversight. Even when oil is sold, access to the proceeds is neither immediate nor guaranteed. The earlier use of intermediary channels, such as Qatar, has reportedly faded, consolidating financial control within U.S. systems. The result is a country producing oil but lacking full command over its monetization.