WASHINGTON — The United States handled more than $12 billion of Venezuela's oil revenues in the first nine months of this year, according to a report prepared by the accounting firm KPMG and made public by the State Department on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

The report sets out how funds were deposited into a US Treasury account by buyers of Venezuelan oil and other natural resources, and released to the interim government — led by former allies of Nicolas Maduro — that now works closely with Washington. The arrangement was established after President Donald Trump's administration seized then-President Maduro in January. The 53-page report is dated October 29, was transmitted to Congress in early November, and its details were first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters

"The funds remain sovereign property of Venezuela" but are "held pending disposition for public, governmental, or diplomatic purposes" as determined by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the report said. A State Department official, speaking anonymously, said "the report shows the process is working" and that the account has supported essential public services, macroeconomic stability and the rebuilding of energy, healthcare and infrastructure in Venezuela.

Source: Reuters

Where the money went — and what the report does not say

Most of the disbursed money went to foreign exchange auctions run by Venezuelan authorities, in which banks sell dollars to support the value of the Venezuelan bolivar, while $133 million went directly to vendors for services provided to the Venezuelan government, Reuters reported. Al Jazeera reported that about $9.4 billion went to "legal entities" and $2.9 billion to "individuals" — but that the heavily redacted report gives no details about the final recipients of the money distributed inside Venezuela.

Source: Al Jazeera

The money first flowed into an account at Qatar National Bank in January, into which about $500 million was initially deposited and almost all distributed back by late January, when a dedicated US Treasury-controlled account was set up, Al Jazeera reported. That account has since taken in more than $12 billion from about 20 depositors, whose names are redacted in the public version.

Source: Al Jazeera

Trafigura and Vitol, and a Vance link, reported

The New York Times reported that the majority of the deposits came from commodity giants Trafigura and Vitol, which were awarded special licences to sell Venezuela's oil shortly after the January 3 operation to seize Maduro and his wife, Reuters said. Reuters also reported on Wednesday that a Vitol gasoline trader's ties to Vice President JD Vance helped the company secure that licence. Those are the outlets' reports, presented here as such.

Source: Reuters

The report matters because it is the first public accounting of how Washington has controlled another country's oil income since the January operation: the total is now documented, the disbursement channel is named — and so are the limits, with depositors redacted and final recipients inside Venezuela still not identified. Venezuelan rights activists have expressed concern that Washington may prize oil revenues over backing democratic reforms, Al Jazeera noted. What happens next is whether Congress — to which the report was sent in early November — presses for the unredacted picture.