US says it brought $100 million in gold from Venezuela after rare deal

The United States has transported $100 million worth of gold from Venezuela, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said, outlining a rare transfer of precious metals between the two countries after more than two decades.

Burgum said he travelled to Venezuela earlier this month alongside oil and mining executives, where he met interim President Delcy Rodríguez. Speaking at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in Houston, he told energy industry leaders that no such shipment had taken place between the two countries for over 20 years.

“At the end of two days, we were able to bring back $100 million worth of gold—physically, gold,” Burgum said, adding that US refineries would use the metal for commercial and consumer purposes.

The remarks come amid a broader shift in US engagement with Venezuela. Washington carried out a military operation in January in which former president Nicolás Maduro was captured, while the administration of Donald Trump has since worked closely with Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president.

Burgum said he held a 10-hour meeting with Rodríguez during the visit, signalling deepening coordination between the two sides.

Trump has been pressing US oil and gas executives to invest in Venezuela’s energy sector, widely believed to hold the world’s largest crude oil reserves.

However, Burgum indicated that Washington’s interest extends beyond hydrocarbons. He described Venezuela’s mining and precious metals sector as a significant opportunity for development, noting that the country also possesses vast coal reserves containing critical minerals.

“The mining opportunity—this is a completely collapsed sector in Venezuela, and they know it,” Burgum said. He added that the industry is currently dominated by informal miners operating under gang control and associated with some of the worst environmental practices globally.

Despite this, he said the Rodríguez government is seeking “a clean environment, modern investment, and economic growth” within the country.

Separately, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado addressed oil and gas executives in Houston on Tuesday.

Machado called for the full privatisation of Venezuela’s oil industry and said that establishing conditions for free and fair elections in the country would take at least nine months.