Venezuela oil exports reportedly fall sharply after US seizure of tanker | Venezuela
Venezuelan oil exports have fallen sharply since the United States seized a tanker this week and imposed new sanctions on shipping companies and ships doing business with Caracas, according to shipping data, documents and maritime sources.
The U.S. seizure of the tanker Skipper off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday was the first U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions were imposed in 2019 and marked a sharp escalation in rising tensions between the Trump administration and the government of Nicolás Maduro.
Since the seizure, only tankers chartered by U.S. oil company Chevron have sailed into international waters carrying Venezuelan crude, according to data reviewed by Reuters news agency. Chevron has the authority of the US government to operate in the country through joint ventures and to export its oil to the US.
Other tankers loading about 11 million barrels of oil and fuel were stranded in Venezuelan waters, according to sources and data seen by Reuters.
U.S. attorney Pam Bondi said this week that Skipper was captured and held under a seizure warrant, while Guyana’s maritime authority said he was flying the country’s flag by mistake.
The tanker is now reportedly heading to Houston, where it will unload its cargo onto smaller ships. Washington is preparing to stop more ships carrying Venezuelan oil, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Venezuela condemned the seizure of the tanker as “blatant theft” and “international piracy” and said it would file a complaint with international institutions. At the same time, Venezuelan lawmakers took a step to withdraw the country from the international criminal court, which is currently investigating allegations of human rights abuses in the South American country.
Following more than 20 US military strikes against ships allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific this year and a large-scale US military buildup in the southern Caribbean, relations between the US and Venezuela are at their most unstable point in years.
The deaths of nearly 90 people in US attacks on suspected drug ships have alarmed human rights advocates and sparked debate among US lawmakers about the legality of the actions.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke with Maduro on the phone about “peace” in South America, the Brazilian presidency said Friday.
Lula, one of Latin America’s most influential leaders, had not spoken to Maduro since Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election; The results of this election were not recognized by Brazil and much of the international community.
The Trump administration does not recognize Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Washington signaled that more seizures were planned as part of efforts to stem the flow of sanctioned oil and then imposed new sanctions on three nephews of Maduro’s wife and six tankers linked to them.
Trump has also repeatedly raised the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela.
Maduro said that the United States was determined to bring about regime change and wanted to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who secretly flew out of the country to receive the Nobel peace prize, vowed on Friday that Maduro would leave power “with or without a negotiated replacement.” But he vowed to focus on a peaceful transition and thanked Trump for his “steadfast support.”
Despite a decade-long travel ban and a period in hiding, Machado traveled to Oslo on Thursday, saying he would soon bring the Nobel peace prize back to Venezuela.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
