WILLEMSTAD – Venezuelan oil exports intended to limit financial benefits to the Maduro government have instead reportedly enriched a private operator with close ties to the ruling elite, raising new questions about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions enforcement.
According to information circulating within Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, a July adjustment by former U.S. President Donald Trump to Chevron’s operating framework was designed to prevent the Maduro regime from receiving cash payments in U.S. dollars for oil exports. The goal was to curb the flow of hard currency to the government while allowing limited oil production to continue.
However, the outcome appears to have diverged sharply from that objective.
Internal PDVSA data indicate that nearly 11 million barrels of crude from the Petroboscán field—operated by Chevron—were exported since July, primarily to China. The exports were reportedly carried out through opaque trading structures and alternative payment mechanisms, including cryptocurrency-based transactions.
At the center of the operation is Ramón Carretero, an oil trader sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for allegedly acting on behalf of the Venezuelan regime and maintaining business ties with the Maduro-Flores family. Through the company Shineful Energy, Carretero is said to have exported close to USD 500 million worth of Venezuelan crude since July.
While oil exports increased in volume, the Venezuelan economy reportedly saw a decline in incoming foreign currency. Analysts say this reflects a growing shift away from cash payments toward oil-for-goods or oil-in-kind arrangements, intended to bypass sanctions but ultimately limiting liquidity within the formal economy.
The situation underscores a growing paradox in sanctions policy: efforts to block direct cash flows to the Maduro government appear to have redirected value away from the state and into private networks closely connected to the regime’s inner circle.
For Venezuela, the practical effect has been fewer dollars circulating in the domestic economy, despite higher export activity. For international observers, the case highlights how sanctions, when filtered through complex trading structures, can unintentionally reinforce the very power networks they are meant to weaken.
The developments are being closely watched in the Caribbean and beyond, particularly in jurisdictions with historical and logistical links to Venezuela’s oil trade, as they may signal further shifts in regional energy flows and enforcement strategies.