A Vance backer got the call to market Venezuela's oil, with no tender

What happened

On January 5, two days after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro, Energy Secretary Chris Wright called John Addison, a senior trader at Vitol, which the Energy Department calls the world's largest energy trader, and asked whether Vitol wanted the job of marketing Venezuela's crude.³⁵ By January 9, Vitol and its rival Trafigura held U.S. Treasury licenses to do it.³⁵⁵⁰ There was no tender, Reuters reports. Large U.S. government contracts usually go through competitive bidding, to prevent favoritism and get the best price, Reuters notes; the administration skipped it and says it needed the speed to stabilize Venezuela's economy.³⁵

• Energy Secretary Chris Wright called John Addison, a Vitol trader, on January 5, two days after the operation that captured Maduro, and asked whether Vitol wanted the job of marketing Venezuela's crude; the Energy Department confirmed the call.³⁵
• Addison, 48, was a senior Vitol trader whose specialty was U.S. gasoline, not Latin American crude, and was not the firm's regional chief.³⁵
• The Energy Department says Vance and Wright never discussed sales of Venezuelan oil and that it picked Vitol because it is the world's largest energy and commodity trader.³⁵
• By January 9, Vitol and Trafigura both held U.S. licenses to market Venezuela's oil.³⁵
• Vitol's and Trafigura's own Treasury licenses run until June 2027 and also cover metals and minerals, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in January.⁵⁰
• Large U.S. government contracts are typically awarded by competitive bidding to ensure transparency, prevent favoritism and secure the best financial returns, Reuters notes.³⁵
• The administration skipped competitive bidding and has defended that, Reuters reports, as the speed needed to stabilize Venezuela's economy after Maduro was seized.³⁵

The job works like this. The traders buy the crude from Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, pay for it into an account the United States controls, and resell it to refiners.^35344153 Sources told Reuters the traders bought the first cargoes at $15 a barrel below Brent, the international benchmark price, and Vitol resold some to U.S. Gulf Coast refiners at about $8.50 to $9.50 below it.⁵³

• Vitol and Trafigura say the terms of their agreements with PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company, are confidential.³⁵
• The Energy Department's January 7 fact sheet said all proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude would first settle in U.S.-controlled accounts; KPMG's report counts buyers' payments as deposits, including about $100 million Trafigura deposited to buy Venezuelan gold, the Times reports.³⁴⁴¹
• Sources told Reuters the two traders bought the first Venezuelan oil at $15 a barrel below Brent, and Vitol sold cargoes to U.S. Gulf Coast refiners at about $8.50 to $9.50 below Brent; Wright confirmed the $15 discount on the first $500 million of sales. Shipping to the Gulf Coast costs the traders $2.50 to $3.50 a barrel, shipping sources said, which would leave a margin of $2 to $4 a barrel.⁵³⁵³

Addison was an unusual person to call. He traded U.S. gasoline, not Latin American crude, and he was not Vitol's regional chief.³⁵ He was an early backer of JD Vance: in 2022 he gave $300,000 to the super PAC behind Vance's Senate primary, and $10,800 to Vance's joint fundraising committee.¹⁴⁶ He has since retired from Vitol and co-chairs Wright's advisory board.³⁵²⁸²⁷

• Addison, 48, was a senior Vitol trader whose specialty was U.S. gasoline, not Latin American crude, and was not the firm's regional chief.³⁵
• Addison gave $300,000 in April 2022 to Protect Ohio Values PAC, the super PAC backing Vance's Senate primary, in two contributions.¹⁴⁶
• In February 2022 Addison gave $10,800 to Ohioans for JD, a joint fundraising committee; it passed $5,800 of that, in two $2,900 amounts, to JD Vance for Senate, Vance's campaign, and $5,000 to Working for Ohio.¹
• Addison announced his retirement from Vitol at the end of March and now co-chairs the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, which first met on July 20.³⁵²⁸²⁷

The job paid. The two firms have since earned hundreds of millions of dollars marketing the crude, Reuters reports.³⁵ They also handled most of it: through September they paid in 61% of the $12.26 billion deposited in the account, by KPMG's count as The New York Times describes it.⁴¹³⁴ That is a share of the account, not of all Venezuela's oil: Chevron and NABEP, one of Venezuela's largest private producers, sell at least some of their oil outside it.⁴¹³⁵

• Vitol and Trafigura have since earned hundreds of millions of dollars marketing the crude, Reuters reports; at the professor's margin, the returns would come to hundreds of millions of dollars, since Venezuela has exported over 200 million barrels this year.³⁵
• Vitol and Trafigura accounted for 61 percent of the $12.26 billion deposited in the U.S.-controlled Venezuela account from January 3 through September; more buyers joined, but the two still dominated, according to a KPMG report described by The New York Times. Chevron and NABEP sell at least some of their oil outside the account.⁴¹⁴¹
• The Energy Department's January 7 fact sheet said all proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude would first settle in U.S.-controlled accounts; KPMG's report counts buyers' payments as deposits, including about $100 million Trafigura deposited to buy Venezuelan gold, the Times reports.⁴¹³⁴
• North American Blue Energy Partners, NABEP, is one of Venezuela's largest privately owned oil producers.³⁵

Their head start outlasted the opening of the trade. On January 29 the Treasury let other established U.S. firms trade the oil, but for the next two weeks, four would-be buyers told Reuters, PDVSA sold only to companies holding individual U.S. licenses, as the two firms did, because it wanted specific U.S. guidance on whom to trade with.^631145135

• On January 29, the Treasury issued General License 46, letting established U.S. firms market Venezuelan oil, under conditions: payments to blocked Venezuelan parties into the U.S.-controlled account or another Treasury named, and no dealings with Russian, Iranian, North Korean, Cuban or certain Chinese-linked parties.⁶³¹¹⁴
• In the two weeks after General License 46, PDVSA refused to sell oil to companies without individual U.S. licenses, four sources from would-be buyers told Reuters on February 13; PDVSA wanted specific U.S. guidance on whom to trade with.⁵¹
• By January 9, Vitol and Trafigura both held U.S. licenses to market Venezuela's oil.³⁵

From one source who was given Addison's account, Reuters reported on November 11 that Addison and Vance met at Montana's Yellowstone Club on December 27, a week before the raid, and that Vance was particularly interested to know how quickly Venezuelan crude could be sold if the United States hypothetically gained control of it. Addison and Vance's office deny the meeting.³⁵

• Reuters reported on November 11, from a person who was given an account of it by Addison, that Vance and Addison met at Montana's Yellowstone Club on December 27, a week before the operation, talked about Venezuela, and that Vance was particularly interested to know how quickly Venezuelan crude could be sold if the U.S. hypothetically gained control of the country's oil supplies.³⁵
• Addison and Vance's office both deny the December 27 meeting; Addison says anyone who says otherwise is making it up.³⁵

A gasoline trader gets the call

Addison says he knows why the call came to him: Vance had told Wright he was trustworthy, and that paved the way.³⁵ A U.S. official confirmed to Reuters that Vance had said so, and told Reuters the conversation happened at least a year before the call.³⁵ The Energy Department says Vance and Wright never discussed the oil sales, and that it picked Vitol because it is the largest trader.³⁵

• Addison told Reuters that Vance had told Wright he was trustworthy, paving the way for the call.³⁵
• A U.S. official told Reuters that Vance had told Wright Addison was a trustworthy person in the energy industry, in a conversation at least a year before the January 5 call.³⁵
• The Energy Department says Vance and Wright never discussed sales of Venezuelan oil and that it picked Vitol because it is the world's largest energy and commodity trader.³⁵

Addison says he expected a market update when Wright rang.³⁵ Vitol says he did not have the knowledge to negotiate an international crude contract, and that he brought in Ben Marshall, its Americas chief, and the crude team after the call.³⁵⁵ By Vitol's own account, the man Wright called could not do the deal himself.

• Addison says he thought Wright was calling for a market update.³⁵
• Vitol says Addison lacked the technical knowledge to negotiate an international crude contract and brought in Ben Marshall and the crude team after the January 5 call.³⁵
• Vitol's Americas chief Ben Marshall told Trump the firm, alongside Trafigura, was working to bring the crude to market at market price as quickly as it could to help stabilize Venezuela.⁵

On January 9, at a White House meeting with oil and gas executives, Addison told Trump what Vitol and Trafigura were there to do.⁵

• At a White House meeting with oil and gas executives on January 9, Addison told Trump: "We're here to ensure that you are going to be able to move all of this oil all around the world at the best price possible so that the influence that you have over the Venezuelans will ensure that you get what you want."⁵

In Addison's telling, the sales were more than a trade: the better the price, the more leverage Trump would have over Venezuela.⁵

• At a White House meeting with oil and gas executives on January 9, Addison told Trump: "We're here to ensure that you are going to be able to move all of this oil all around the world at the best price possible so that the influence that you have over the Venezuelans will ensure that you get what you want."⁵

His political money

The $300,000 Addison gave in 2022 went to Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC that spent about $16 million on ads, mail, calls and texts, mostly for Vance in his Senate primary. The tech investor Peter Thiel gave $15 million of the $19.8 million it raised. Addison was its fifth-largest donor, with about 1.5%.^10114612

• Protect Ohio Values raised about $19.8 million and spent about $16 million on independent spending, ads, mail, calls and texts, mostly for Vance and some against Josh Mandel; Peter Thiel gave $15 million of it, and Addison's $300,000 was about 1.5 percent.^10114612
• Protect Ohio Values' largest donors in 2021 and 2022 were Peter Thiel ($15 million), Walter W. Buckley Jr. ($1.2 million), David O. Sacks ($1 million), Per Aspera Policy Inc. ($400,000) and John Addison ($300,000), fifth.¹¹

In 2024 Addison and his wife, Shannon, gave about $7.1 million to political committees, $5.95 million of it to two committees backing Trump: the super PAC MAGA Inc. and the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee.^28352429 A further $1 million went to Turnout for America, a super PAC turning out swing-state voters for Trump, led by a close friend of Vance's.⁴⁵ In these filings, the money that reached Vance's own campaign was $5,800, in 2022.¹

• FEC filings at the Addisons' Houston address show John and Shannon Addison gave about $7.1 million to political committees in 2024: $5 million to MAGA Inc., $950,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee, $1 million to Turnout for America, $100,000 to High Plains PAC and $50,000 to Advance the Senate. Reuters puts it at $7 million to political action committees.²⁸³⁵
• Of that, $5.95 million went to two committees backing Trump: the super PAC MAGA Inc. and the Trump 47 Committee. In January, House Oversight Democrats said Addison had donated $6 million toward Trump's campaign; Senate Democrats described Vitol as having more than $6 million in donations to committees supporting Trump.²²⁴²⁹
• Turnout for America was a 2024 super PAC to turn out swing-state voters for Trump, led by Christopher Buskirk, a close friend and political ally of Vance.⁴⁵
• In February 2022 Addison gave $10,800 to Ohioans for JD, a joint fundraising committee; it passed $5,800 of that, in two $2,900 amounts, to JD Vance for Senate, Vance's campaign, and $5,000 to Working for Ohio.¹

Why a trading house, and why so fast

In December Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned tankers to squeeze Maduro's government.⁵⁴ As storage filled, Bloomberg reported, the blockade forced Venezuela to cut production. On January 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators that sanctioned oil could not leave "because of our quarantine," his word for the blockade, and that Venezuela needed money at once.³⁰⁵⁰⁴⁷ By Rubio's account, the oil the traders were brought in to move was stuck because of the U.S. blockade.³⁰⁵⁰

• On December 16, Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, to increase pressure on Maduro's government by targeting its main source of income.⁵⁴
• Rubio told senators, "There is oil that is sanctioned that cannot move from Venezuela because of our quarantine," and that Venezuela was running out of storage; Bloomberg reported that Trump's blockade had forced Venezuela to cut production as storage filled.^30503050
• Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28 that Venezuela was running out of storage and needed money at once, and that the arrangement was a short-term mechanism, not the permanent one; he called the trading companies "a short-term fix."³⁰⁴⁷

Trading houses could move that oil quickly. Vitol and Trafigura had been among the most active traders of Venezuelan crude before U.S. sanctions in 2019.⁴² The Energy Department said it had engaged "the world’s leading commodity marketers" to carry out the sales, and that U.S.-run sales of Venezuelan oil would continue indefinitely. Rubio called the two traders "a short-term fix."³⁴³⁰⁴⁷

• Vitol and Trafigura were among the most active traders of Venezuelan oil before U.S. sanctions in 2019, and could put tankers in Venezuela faster than many of PDVSA's partners, Reuters reported on January 8.⁴²
• The Energy Department's January 7 fact sheet said the government had begun marketing Venezuelan crude and had engaged "the world’s leading commodity marketers and key banks" to carry out the sales.³⁴
• The Energy Department's January 7 fact sheet said U.S.-run sales of Venezuelan oil would continue indefinitely.³⁴
• Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28 that Venezuela was running out of storage and needed money at once, and that the arrangement was a short-term mechanism, not the permanent one; he called the trading companies "a short-term fix."³⁰⁴⁷

On the first sales in January, shipping to the Gulf Coast cost $2.50 to $3.50 a barrel, shipping sources told Reuters, which would leave the traders a margin of $2 to $4 a barrel; one professor puts it at $3 to $3.50, and the firms do not disclose profits from individual deals.⁵³³⁵ Wright confirmed the $15 discount on the first $500 million of sales.⁵³

• Sources told Reuters the two traders bought the first Venezuelan oil at $15 a barrel below Brent, and Vitol sold cargoes to U.S. Gulf Coast refiners at about $8.50 to $9.50 below Brent; Wright confirmed the $15 discount on the first $500 million of sales. Shipping to the Gulf Coast costs the traders $2.50 to $3.50 a barrel, shipping sources said, which would leave a margin of $2 to $4 a barrel.⁵³⁵³
• Tom Seng, a Texas Christian University professor, estimates the traders make $3 to $3.50 a barrel, about a 3.5 to 4 percent margin; the firms do not disclose profits from individual deals, and Reuters could not verify the estimate.³⁵

The administration's case for the two traders was speed.³⁵³⁰⁴⁷ Their hold has lasted: they paid in most of the account's deposits through September, by KPMG's count as the Times describes it, and their own licenses, which also cover metals and minerals, run to June 2027, people familiar told Bloomberg in January.⁴¹⁵⁰

• The administration skipped competitive bidding and has defended that, Reuters reports, as the speed needed to stabilize Venezuela's economy after Maduro was seized.³⁵
• Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28 that Venezuela was running out of storage and needed money at once, and that the arrangement was a short-term mechanism, not the permanent one; he called the trading companies "a short-term fix."³⁰⁴⁷
• Vitol and Trafigura accounted for 61 percent of the $12.26 billion deposited in the U.S.-controlled Venezuela account from January 3 through September; more buyers joined, but the two still dominated, according to a KPMG report described by The New York Times. Chevron and NABEP sell at least some of their oil outside the account.⁴¹
• Vitol's and Trafigura's own Treasury licenses run until June 2027 and also cover metals and minerals, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in January.⁵⁰

What each side says

The critics. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote to both firms in January asking about their dealings with the administration; the firms declined to tell Reuters whether they had answered.²⁴²⁵³⁵ Fourteen Senate Democrats objected that the administration was working with two firms with histories of bribery and corruption:²⁹ Vitol paid $135 million under a 2020 settlement over bribes to officials at Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, and Trafigura pleaded guilty in 2024 to bribing Brazilian officials for Petrobras business.³⁸

• In January, Rep. Robert Garcia, Oversight's top Democrat, wrote to Vitol and Trafigura asking about their dealings with the administration and whether they had advance notice of the military action.²⁴²⁵
• Vitol and Trafigura declined to tell Reuters whether they had answered Garcia's letter.³⁵
• In January, 14 Senate Democrats objected that the administration was working with Vitol and Trafigura on the oil sales even though both have histories of criminal and civil penalties, bribery, market manipulation and corruption.²⁹
• Vitol paid $135 million under a 2020 deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department over bribes to officials at Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras.³⁸
• Trafigura pleaded guilty in 2024 to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over a decade-long scheme to bribe Brazilian officials for business with Petrobras.³⁸

The administration. Asked on CBS in January about allegations that some Trump donors would get preferential treatment, Wright said there was no corruption and no "preferential placement of people," and added, "I'm in the center of this."²⁶

• Asked on CBS on January 11 about allegations that some Trump donors would get preferential treatment, Wright said Venezuela's crude went through American crude marketers and that there was no corruption or preferential placement of people: "I'm in the center of this."²⁶

Both firms say they were given no advance knowledge of the operation.³⁵ The call itself is not in dispute; why it went to Addison is.³⁵

• Vitol and Trafigura both told Reuters they had been given no advance knowledge of U.S. military operations in Venezuela.³⁵
• Energy Secretary Chris Wright called John Addison, a Vitol trader, on January 5, two days after the operation that captured Maduro, and asked whether Vitol wanted the job of marketing Venezuela's crude; the Energy Department confirmed the call.³⁵
• Addison told Reuters that Vance had told Wright he was trustworthy, paving the way for the call.³⁵
• The Energy Department says Vance and Wright never discussed sales of Venezuelan oil and that it picked Vitol because it is the world's largest energy and commodity trader.³⁵

Every explanation, tested

How Vitol got the job, as each side explains it, with the evidence for and against.

What the coverage got right and wrong

Reuters reported that Addison was "named chairman" of Wright's advisory board; the board's minutes list him as one of two co-chairs.³⁵²⁸ The rest of its report matches the records it rests on: the call the Energy Department confirmed, the vouching an official confirmed, and the meeting, which it attributes to one source and reports Addison and Vance's office denying.³⁵

• Reuters says Addison was named chairman of Wright's advisory board; the board's minutes list him as one of two co-chairs.³⁵²⁸
• Energy Secretary Chris Wright called John Addison, a Vitol trader, on January 5, two days after the operation that captured Maduro, and asked whether Vitol wanted the job of marketing Venezuela's crude; the Energy Department confirmed the call.³⁵
• A U.S. official told Reuters that Vance had told Wright Addison was a trustworthy person in the energy industry, in a conversation at least a year before the January 5 call.³⁵
• Reuters reported on November 11, from a person who was given an account of it by Addison, that Vance and Addison met at Montana's Yellowstone Club on December 27, a week before the operation, talked about Venezuela, and that Vance was particularly interested to know how quickly Venezuelan crude could be sold if the U.S. hypothetically gained control of the country's oil supplies.³⁵
• Addison and Vance's office both deny the December 27 meeting; Addison says anyone who says otherwise is making it up.³⁵

10 Things News summed up the report as a U.S. official confirming that "Vance had recommended Addison to Wright as trustworthy," and wrote that the $300,000 went to Vance's "Senate campaign effort."⁴⁰ It left out that the official dated the recommendation at least a year before the call, and that the $300,000 went to a super PAC.³⁵¹⁴⁶

• A news digest summarized the report as Vance having "recommended Addison to Wright as trustworthy," without the timing, and said the $300,000 went to Vance's Senate campaign effort.⁴⁰
• A U.S. official told Reuters that Vance had told Wright Addison was a trustworthy person in the energy industry, in a conversation at least a year before the January 5 call.³⁵
• Addison gave $300,000 in April 2022 to Protect Ohio Values PAC, the super PAC backing Vance's Senate primary, in two contributions.¹⁴⁶

The $6 million and the $7 million. House Oversight Democrats said in January that Addison had donated $6 million toward Trump's campaign; Reuters says the Addisons gave $7 million to political action committees. Both are right, counting different things: $5.95 million in 2024 to two committees backing Trump, and about $7.1 million that year to political committees in all.^22429835

• Of that, $5.95 million went to two committees backing Trump: the super PAC MAGA Inc. and the Trump 47 Committee. In January, House Oversight Democrats said Addison had donated $6 million toward Trump's campaign; Senate Democrats described Vitol as having more than $6 million in donations to committees supporting Trump.²²⁴²⁹
• FEC filings at the Addisons' Houston address show John and Shannon Addison gave about $7.1 million to political committees in 2024: $5 million to MAGA Inc., $950,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee, $1 million to Turnout for America, $100,000 to High Plains PAC and $50,000 to Advance the Senate. Reuters puts it at $7 million to political action committees.²⁸³⁵

What happens next

Garcia is in line to chair the House Oversight Committee; he says the report "raises even more questions about who knew what and when."³⁵ Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat, wants Wright, Vitol and Addison to testify under oath and the phone records, emails and flight logs produced.³⁷

• Garcia, the incoming Oversight chair, said the new reporting "raises even more questions about who knew what and when."³⁵
• Rep. Mike Levin called for Wright, Vitol and Addison to testify under oath and for the phone records, emails and flight logs.³⁷

What happened to the money in the account is the other open question. In September Senate Democrats wrote that the administration had promised quarterly audits of the account and given KPMG an $84 million contract, yet published none.³² KPMG's report on the account, made public on November 12, counts 20 depositors and says 98.7% of the money had been paid out by September 30.¹⁹ Most of it, $11.7 billion, went to dollar auctions through Venezuela's commercial banks to prop up the bolívar, and the report does not say who ended up with those dollars.⁴¹

• In September, Senate Democrats including Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren wrote that the administration had promised quarterly audits of the account and given KPMG an $84 million contract, but that no audits had been made public.³²
• KPMG's report on the account, made public on November 12, counts $12.26 billion from 20 registered depositors through September, with deposits at first concentrated among a few and broadening over time; $12.11 billion, 98.7 percent, had been paid out, and $168.56 million remained.¹⁹
• Most of the money paid out, $11.7 billion, went to foreign-currency auctions through Venezuela's commercial banks to prop up the bolívar, and the report does not identify who ultimately got those dollars, the Times reports.⁴¹