Follow-Up: State Department Releases the KPMG Report — $12.26 Billion Deposited in the Venezuela Custody Account, $12.11 Billion (About 99%) Disbursed
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State on November 12 released the full text of the KPMG report on the Venezuela Custody Account, a 53-page document. GSM first reported the account's figures on November 10, based on The New York Times' account of the then-unreleased report. With the report now public, the official figures are: between January 3 and September 30, 2026, the account took in $12.26 billion, of which more than $12.1 billion came from sales of oil, petroleum products and natural gas, with gold adding $108 million, minerals $22 million and fertilizer $24.6 million. Disbursements over the same period totaled $12.11 billion, nearly 99% of all deposits, leaving a balance of $168.6 million on September 30.
A correction and completion of our earlier report: the November 10 story said $11.7 billion was sent back through foreign-exchange auctions to prop up the bolívar. The released report confirms the auctions were indeed the main channel, at about $11.7 billion, but total disbursements were $12.11 billion, not $11.7 billion — the $11.7 billion was only the portion that moved through the auctions. Our earlier story also described roughly $130 million as payments of the Venezuelan government's external bills; the released report characterizes that money as $133 million paid directly to vendors for services provided to the Venezuelan government. The earlier figures came from a secondhand account and differ from the report's own wording; we correct and complete them here.
The report, prepared by KPMG for the U.S. government and dated October 29, was transmitted to Congress in early November. It says the funds "remain sovereign property of Venezuela," held in custody pending disposition for public, governmental or diplomatic purposes as determined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The account is administered by the U.S. Treasury Department: buyers pay in, and money is released to Venezuela's interim government only after U.S. review. The public version redacts the names of the 20 depositors; the Times has reported that commodity traders Trafigura and Vitol together accounted for about 61% of deposits.
A State Department official said the account had, in its first nine months, supported Venezuela's essential public services and macroeconomic stability and the rebuilding of key sectors such as energy, healthcare and infrastructure, adding that "the report shows the process is working."
The report leaves questions open: the ultimate beneficiaries of the foreign-exchange auctions are still not identified, and KPMG describes its own role as assisting the State Department in administering the account rather than auditing it. The quarterly audits the State Department had promised Congress had never been made public; this is the first accounting of the account to be released.
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Source: U.S. Department of State
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：委内瑞拉安索阿特吉州的 Puerto La Cruz 炼油厂（资料图）。Guaiquerí 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / Photo: The Puerto La Cruz refinery in Anzoátegui state, Venezuela (file photo). By Guaiquerí, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-11-10Report: $12.26 Billion in Venezuelan Export Revenue Passed Through a U.S. Custody Account, With $11.7 Billion Sent Back to Prop Up the Bolivar
- 2026-11-13Follow-Up: State Department Releases the KPMG Report — $12.26 Billion Deposited in the Venezuela Custody Account, $12.11 Billion (About 99%) DisbursedThis story
