US seeks to assert its control over Venezuelan oil with tanker seizures and sales worldwide
A local walks past a mural featuring oil pumps and wells in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
| January 7, 2026 11:30 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday sought to assert its control over Venezuelan oil, seizing a pair of sanctioned tankers transporting petroleum and announcing plans to relax some sanctions so the U.S. can oversee the sale of Venezuela's petroleum worldwide.
Trump's administration intends to control the distribution of Venezuela's oil products globally following its ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid. Besides the United States enforcing an existing oil embargo, the Energy Department says the "only oil transported in and out of Venezuela" will be through approved channels consistent with U.S. law and national security interests.
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