Energy Secretary Chris Wright called Addison on January 5 to ask whether Vitol wanted to sell Venezuela’s crude, according to Reuters. The administration said it bypassed competitive bidding because it needed to move quickly to stabilize Venezuela’s economy.

Addison donated $300,000 in 2022 to a political action committee supporting Vance’s Ohio Senate campaign. He and his wife gave $7 million to political action committees in 2024, including $5 million to Make America Great Again. A U.S. official told Reuters that Vance had vouched for Addison to Wright at least a year before the January call.

Flight records show Addison’s jet and Vance’s plane at Bozeman airport on December 27, when Vance visited Montana’s Yellowstone Club. Addison is building a home there. A person who heard Addison’s account said Vance asked how quickly Venezuelan crude could be sold. Addison and Vance’s office deny that a meeting took place.

The Energy Department said Vance and Wright never discussed Venezuelan oil sales and that Vitol was selected because it is the world’s largest energy trader. Vitol and Trafigura said they had no advance knowledge of the military operation. Venezuela has exported more than 200 million barrels this year; both traders declined to disclose the terms of their agreements with state oil company PDVSA.

Addison retired from Vitol in March and now chairs Wright’s energy policy advisory board. In January, Rep. Robert Garcia, the incoming Democratic chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to Vitol and Trafigura’s leaders asking how the companies secured their licenses. The reporting, he said, “raises even more questions about who knew what and when.”