Key facts
- Addison, 48, was a senior Vitol gasoline trader, not the firm's regional CEO, when Wright called him on January 5.
- A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Vance told Wright at least a year before the January 5 call that Addison was trustworthy.
- The Energy Department said Vance and Wright never discussed Venezuelan oil sales and that it picked Vitol because it is the world's largest energy and commodity trader.
- Vitol and Trafigura told Reuters they had no advance knowledge of US military operations in Venezuela.
- Tom Seng of Texas Christian University estimated the traders made $3 to $3.50 per barrel, a roughly 3.5% to 4% margin, on more than 200 million barrels exported so far this year.
- Trump said the US intends to control Venezuela's crude and revenues indefinitely and wants $100 billion in investment from US oil companies.
Vitol gasoline trader John Addison received a call from US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on January 5, two days after the operation that unseated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, offering Vitol the job of selling Venezuelan crude, Addison told Reuters. The Energy Department confirmed the call took place to discuss Venezuela.
Addison told Reuters that Vice President J.D. Vance had told Wright that Addison was trustworthy, paving the way for the call. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Vance described Addison as trustworthy in the energy industry, in a conversation at least a year before the January 5 call. The Energy Department said Vance and Wright never discussed Venezuelan oil sales and that it chose Vitol because it is the largest energy and commodity trader in the world.
A person familiar with the matter said Vance and Addison met at Montana's Yellowstone Club on December 27, a week before the invasion, and discussed how quickly Venezuelan crude could be sold if the US gained control of the country's oil supplies. Both Addison and Vance's office denied the meeting. Addison told Reuters: "And anyone who says so is absolutely making it up because I've never told a single soul that was the case."
Vitol and Trafigura obtained special licenses to sell Venezuelan oil within days of the January 5 call, and Trafigura was offered its license in the second week of January, according to a source familiar with the matter. Both firms declined to comment on whether they had answered a January letter from Representative Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, but told Reuters they had no advance knowledge of US military operations in Venezuela.
Tom Seng, an energy finance expert at Texas Christian University, estimated the traders were making $3 to $3.50 in profit per barrel, a roughly 3.5% to 4% margin, which would translate to hundreds of millions of dollars on more than 200 million barrels exported so far this year, according to US government data. Vitol's operating profit margins over the past three years ranged between 1% and 3%, according to a Reuters review of its annual reports. The firms said they could not comment on the terms of their agreements with Venezuela's PDVSA because they are confidential.
Trump said after the January invasion that the US intends to control Venezuela's crude and revenues indefinitely and wants to attract $100 billion in investment from US oil companies. He also announced a partnership with Blue Energy Partners, owned by billionaire Alejandro Betancourt, granting the US a 35% stake in its corporate parent and the right to buy 20% of output at production cost. A lawyer for Betancourt said allegations against him have been examined extensively by authorities.