Inside the Connections Between a Vitol Trader and JD Vance That Secured a Venezuelan Oil Deal 

An investigative report reveals how a Vitol trader’s personal and political connections helped secure one of the Trump administration’s most lucrative post-invasion Venezuelan oil marketing contracts. 

A high-stakes political and energy connection has come to light regarding post-invasion Venezuela, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

Weeks before U.S. forces intervened in Venezuela and unseated its leadership, commodity giant Vitol trader John Addison and U.S. leadership reportedly discussed how quickly Venezuelan crude could be marketed if the U.S. took control of its oil supplies.

Although both Addison and Vice President J.D. Vance’s office denied a reported pre-invasion meeting in Montana, federal records and official acknowledgments confirmed that U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright directly contacted Addison days after the operation to offer Vitol a prime contract.

Within days, Vitol and rival firm Trafigura secured special licenses that allowed them to earn hundreds of millions of dollars marketing the South American nation’s crude.