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Oil exports, the country’s financial lifeblood, have plummeted after the United States took action against three ships that have been used to carry its crude.
Dec. 23, 2025Updated 6:00 p.m. ET
The United States’ aggressive campaign against tankers carrying Venezuelan crude has thrown the country’s oil industry into disarray, jeopardizing its government’s main source of revenue.
President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has been struggling to adjust to President Trump’s dramatic escalation of pressure against his government, which has seen U.S. law enforcement agents taking action against three tankers involved in the export of Venezuelan crude, according to people close to the Venezuelan oil industry. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Venezuela’s ports are piling up with tankers filled with oil, as officials fear releasing them into international waters and into the cross hairs of the United States. Tankers bound for Venezuela have turned around midway, shipping data shows. And shipowners are canceling contracts to load crude, the people said.
In the past two weeks, the United States seized one sanctioned tanker carrying oil as it sailed from Venezuela toward Asia. It intercepted another oil vessel that was not under U.S. sanctions. And the U.S. Coast Guard tried to board a third tanker as it was on the way to Venezuela to pick up cargo.
The measures have paralyzed Venezuela’s oil export industry, according to the people and shipping data. Oil accounts for a vast majority of the country’s foreign currency earnings.
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