Venezuela’s debt to the U.S. is not a single clean number; it depends on whether you mean government debt, court judgments, or money owed to American companies. The most cited recent figure in reporting is that Venezuela owes about $12 billion to U.S. energy firms like ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil combined, with roughly $10 billion tied to Conoco and $2 billion to Exxon in one estimate.

What that means

  • Government debt: Venezuela’s total external debt is much larger and is owed to many creditors, not just the U.S..
  • U.S. company claims: Those are the amounts most people usually mean in headlines about “owing the U.S.”.
  • Not a bilateral state debt only: Some claims are corporate and legal, not direct loans from the U.S. government.

Simple answer

If you mean money owed to American interests , the best recent headline figure is around $12 billion.

If you mean all debt Venezuela owes globally , it is far higher, with older reporting putting total external debt around $140 billion.

Bottom line

So the short version is: Venezuela owes U.S. entities billions, but not a single fixed “U.S. debt” number.