Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told an audience at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in Houston that the U.S. has physically repatriated $100 million worth of gold from Venezuela.
Burgum said he traveled to Venezuela earlier this month with oil and mining executives and held extended talks with interim President Delcy Rodriguez. He described the repatriation as the first precious metals shipment between the two countries in more than two decades.
“There hadn’t been a shipment of precious metals between Venezuela and America in over 20 years,” Burgum said to energy executives at the conference. “At the end of the two days, we were able to bring home $100 million of gold - physically, the gold.” He added that U.S. refiners will put the metal to commercial and consumer uses.
Burgum also provided context about recent U.S. actions toward Venezuela’s leadership. He said the U.S. captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January, but that much of the existing regime remains. The Trump administration, he said, is working closely with Rodriguez, who served as vice president under Maduro.
During his trip, Burgum said he met with Rodriguez for 10 hours. He described efforts by President Trump to encourage U.S. oil and gas executives to consider investment in Venezuela’s energy sector, noting the country is believed to possess the world’s largest crude oil reserves.
Beyond oil, Burgum highlighted opportunities to revive Venezuela’s mineral and precious metal industries. He said the country also holds substantial coal deposits that contain critical minerals. On the state of the mining sector, he characterized it as having collapsed to mostly artisanal operations controlled by gangs and operating with, in his words, “[probably some of the worst environmental practices in the world].”
“They want a clean environment, they want to have modern investment, they want to see growth in their country,” Burgum said of the Rodriguez government, framing the outreach as aiming to introduce modern capital and environmental standards.
The Interior secretary’s remarks tied the tangible return of gold to broader diplomatic and commercial engagement, underscoring U.S. interest in both energy and mineral development in Venezuela while acknowledging the political and operational challenges that remain.
Summary
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reported that the United States physically repatriated $100 million of Venezuelan gold after a visit earlier this month with oil and mining executives and extended meetings with interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Burgum said U.S. refiners will use the gold for commercial and consumer purposes and framed the effort as part of broader discussions about energy and mineral investment in Venezuela.