The State Department and the U.S. Treasury disbursed $12.11 billion from the Venezuela Custody Account between January and September, according to a department report published Thursday. The account collected $12.26 billion from 20 registered depositors over the period from Jan. 3 to Sept. 30, and 98.7% of that total has already been paid out.

The remaining $168.56 million stayed in custody as of Sept. 30, the department said. Those funds await future disbursement requests submitted by Venezuela's central bank on behalf of the interim government.

Where did the money come from?

Crude oil and petroleum-related deposits were the largest source of inflows into the account, the report stated. Oil and petroleum transactions supplied nearly 99% of all money paid into the account, according to Bloomberg.

Two trading houses dominated the deposit base. Trafigura and Vitol combined contributed 61% of all funds placed in the account through September, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The account also took in deposits tied to gold, minerals and fertilizer.

How was the money spent?

Electronic foreign exchange interventions (sales of U.S. dollars into the local market to stabilize the exchange rate) accounted for $9.32 billion of the outflows between March 31 and the end of September. Venezuelan commercial banks handled the transfers.

The disbursement breakdown also included:

• $133.11 million in vendor payments from March 6 through Sept. 30
• A banknote program launched in July to distribute physical U.S. currency, which sent roughly $550 million in cash in total, according to Bloomberg
• A fifth delivery of $100 million that had not yet reached commercial banks as of Sept. 30

KPMG serves as the State Department's contracted monitor and technical adviser on the program. The largest vendor payment not related to health care went to KPMG and exceeded $18 million, according to Bloomberg.

What legal foundation underpins the fund?

President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14373 on Jan. 9, establishing protections for the covered Venezuelan revenues, the department said. The funds remain sovereign property of Venezuela.

Before operations moved to the Treasury account in late January, a temporary account of Venezuela's central bank at Qatar National Bank held $500 million in initial deposits.

Why does Congress care now?

Bloomberg reported that Congress is increasingly scrutinizing how the Trump administration has managed Venezuela's export revenue. Democrats are set to take over both chambers in January 2027, which positions the oversight debate to intensify as control of the legislature shifts.

The department cautioned that the published figures reflect a point-in-time assessment as of Sept. 30. A later report may update the numbers, the department said.

The scale of the program is unusual. A custody arrangement that moves more than $12 billion of a foreign state's oil revenue through a U.S. Treasury account in nine months, with 20 depositors and near-total disbursement, leaves little margin for error in either execution or political perception. The report's detail on the banknote program and the KPMG fee — items rarely disclosed at this granularity — indicates the department anticipates continued congressional attention.

For the interim Venezuelan government, the numbers quantify its dependence on the arrangement: export earnings from Trafigura, Vitol and other depositors enter a U.S.-controlled account, and roughly $550 million in physical dollar deliveries now circulate through Venezuelan commercial banks. The $168.56 million held back as of Sept. 30 represents the sole unspent balance under the program's control.