The United States is preparing to intercept additional tankers carrying Venezuelan oil after seizing a vessel earlier this week, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The operation marks the first time Washington has directly interdicted a Venezuelan tanker since imposing sanctions on the country’s oil sector in 2019.
The move coincides with a growing US military presence in the southern Caribbean and renewed efforts by President Donald Trump to pressure President Nicolas Maduro.
The seizure has rattled shipowners and operators involved in transporting Venezuelan crude, prompting some to halt or delay sailings from Venezuelan waters.
Sources say the US is targeting vessels that have also carried crude from other sanctioned nations, including Iran, and has compiled a list of tankers for potential future action. The Justice Department and Homeland Security have reportedly been preparing these operations for months.
Venezuela’s government labelled the seizure “theft,” while White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to comment on future actions but affirmed the administration’s intent to enforce sanctions rigorously.
The US Treasury has also imposed sanctions on six supertankers recently loaded with Venezuelan crude, as well as four Venezuelan individuals, including relatives of First Lady Cilia Flores.
The intercepted vessel, Skipper, had previously been sanctioned for transporting Iranian oil. Its seizure triggered at least one shipper to suspend three recently loaded shipments totaling nearly 6 million barrels of Merey crude. Tankers are now waiting offshore amid heightened surveillance by US forces, who are monitoring vessels both at sea and in Venezuelan ports.
The tactic targets the so-called “shadow fleet” that moves sanctioned oil to markets such as China. While Venezuela described the action as “international piracy,” experts say it does not meet the legal definition, as the US government authorized the seizure. Further interventions may depend on port availability to unload seized cargoes.
