Energy Secretary Chris Wright called Vitol gasoline trader John Addison on January 5, 2026 — two days after the U.S. operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro — and offered the trading house the job of selling Venezuela's crude oil, Reuters reported on November 11. Addison, an early backer of Vice President JD Vance who gave $300,000 to a pro-Vance political action committee in 2022, confirmed the call, as did the Energy Department.
Within days, Vitol and Trafigura received special no-bid licenses to sell Venezuelan crude. The administration cited speed, saying it needed to move fast to stabilise Venezuela's economy. The two firms have since earned hundreds of millions of dollars from the trade, and Venezuela has exported more than 200 million barrels of oil this year.
A U.S. official told Reuters that Vance had vouched for Addison to Wright at least a year before the call. Reuters also reported, from a single source who said they heard Addison's account, that Vance met Addison at Montana's Yellowstone Club on December 27, 2025, and discussed how quickly Venezuelan crude could be sold. Both men deny any meeting took place. Flight records reviewed by Reuters show Addison's private Embraer jet and Air Force Two were both at Bozeman Yellowstone airport that day.
The Energy Department says Vance and Wright never discussed oil sales and that Vitol was picked because it is the world's largest oil trader. Vitol told Reuters that Addison lacked the technical knowledge for an international crude contract and that its crude desk handled the deal. Vitol and Trafigura said they had no advance knowledge of the military operation. Reuters reported no wrongdoing.
Addison retired from Vitol in March 2026. He now chairs Wright's Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, a post he was appointed to in July 2026.