US lawmaker asks Vitol, Trafigura about Venezuela oil deals

The top Democrat on a U.S. House investigative committee on Thursday asked global trading houses Vitol and Trafigura about any correspondence with the Trump administration before the U.S. capture of Venezuela's leader, to determine, he said, who benefits from that action.



Representative Robert Garcia asked Russell Hardy, the CEO of Vitol and Richard Holtum, the CEO of Trafigura, for all communications between their companies and any members of the Trump administration from January last year until now.



U.S. forces captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro early this month and the Trump administration will manage Venezuela's oil sales "indefinitely." Vitol and Trafigura obtained the first U.S. licenses to load and export Venezuelan oil.