U.S. forces abseil onto an oil tanker during a raid described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as its seizure by the United States off the coast of Venezuela, December 10, 2025, in a still image from video.
U.S. Attorney General | Via Reuters
The U.S. is preparing to seize more oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters Thursday.
The development suggests that the White House is planning a broader campaign against Venezuela’s oil exports. The U.S. seized a tanker on Wednesday that had allegedly transported oil from Venezuela to Iran.
The oil market has been focused on Ukraine peace talks and so far is not indicating a risk of a major supply disruption. U.S. crude oil was last down $1.04, or 1.78%, to $57.42 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent was at $61.11, down $1.10, or 1.77%.
The sources told Reuters that U.S. is expected to target more ships transporting Venezuelan crude in the coming weeks. The Treasury Department updated its Venezuela sanctions list on Thursday to include more than a dozen additional people, companies and tankers.
The tanker seized on Wednesday was a “Very large Crude Carrier,” or VLCC, identified as the Skipper, Matt Smith, head U.S. analyst at energy consulting firm Kpler, told CNBC. It was loaded covertly with 1.1 million barrels in mid-November and appeared on course for Cuba, Smith said.
The tanker seizure comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the Carribean. The Trump administration has launched a series of deadly strikes in recent months on boats that it says were trafficking drugs to the U.S. Those strikes have been the subject of intense scrutiny in Congress over their legality.
Venezuela is a founding member of OPEC and has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It is exporting about 749,000 barrels per day this year with at least half that oil going to China, according to data from Kpler.
