Chicago – January 11, 2026
President Donald Trump on Jan. 10 signed a sharply focused executive order designed to protect revenue from Venezuelan oil sales from private legal claims and court seizures, asserting the action was critical to broader U.S. foreign policy and economic stability in Venezuela.
The order declares that funds from Venezuelan oil held in U.S. Treasury accounts are sovereign assets and not subject to judicial attachment by creditors, including companies with long-standing financial claims stemming from past nationalizations. The White House said allowing such seizures could undermine U.S. efforts to help stabilize Venezuelan governance and attract investment.
Trump’s move comes amid a broader strategy in which the United States has seized sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and asserted control over millions of barrels of crude, with the goal of managing sales and encouraging U.S. energy investment in the country’s beleaguered oil sector.
Oil executives have expressed caution about investing amid political uncertainty, a reality the administration aims to address through legal protections in the executive order. The administration justified the measure under emergency powers, framing it as essential to U.S. national security and diplomatic objectives in the region.
