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)
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, with the Energy Department saying the “only oil transported in and out of Venezuela” will be through approved channels consistent with U.S. law and national security interests. That level of control over the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil could give the Trump administration a tight hold on oil supplies globally in ways that could enable it to influence prices.
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