U.S. preparing to seize more tankers off Venezuelan coast, sources say

The United States is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil following the seizure of a tanker this week, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, six sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The seizure was the first interdiction of an oil cargo or tanker from Venezuela, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019. The action came as the U.S. executes a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean and as U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns for Maduro's ouster.

The latest U.S. action has put shipowners, operators and maritime agencies involved in transporting Venezuelan crude on alert, with many reconsidering whether to sail from Venezuelan waters in the coming days as planned, shipping sources said.

Further direct interventions by the U.S. are expected in the coming weeks targeting ships carrying Venezuelan oil that may also have transported oil from other countries targeted by U.S. sanctions, such as Iran, according to the sources familiar with the matter who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment. Venezuela's government this week said the U.S. seizure constituted a "theft."

Asked whether the Trump administration planned further ship seizures, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would not speak about future actions but said the U.S. would continue executing the president's sanctions policies.

"We're not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black-market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world," she said.

The U.S. has assembled a target list of several more sanctioned tankers for possible seizure, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months, according to two of the people.

A reduction or halt in Venezuelan oil exports, the main generator of revenue for the Venezuelan government, would strain the Maduro government's finances.

The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday it imposed sanctions on six supertankers that, according to PDVSA's internal documents and ship monitoring data, recently loaded crude in Venezuela, and on four Venezuelans — including three relatives of the country's first lady, Cilia Flores. It was not known whether the newly sanctioned ships were among those now targeted for interception.

Wednesday's seizure comes after the U.S. in recent months has carried out more than 20 strikes against what it says are drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people. Experts say the strikes may be illegal extrajudicial attacks, while the U.S. says it is protecting Americans from drug cartels it has branded as terrorist organizations.

Further ship seizures could be aimed at tightening the financial screws on the Venezuelan president, according to a source briefed on U.S. Venezuela policy. Maduro has alleged that the U.S. military buildup is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation's oil resources.

The new U.S. tactic focuses on the activities of what is called the shadow fleet of tankers that transports sanctioned oil to China, the largest buyer of crude from Venezuela and Iran. A single vessel will often make separate runs on behalf of Iran, Venezuela and Russia, the sources said.