The United States imposed new sanctions on six shipping companies transporting crude oil from Venezuela after seizing an oil tanker during the week. The aim was a large-scale operation aimed at weakening the economy of the Nicolás Maduro regime and thus achieving his departure.
Last Wednesday’s operation to take over the ship loaded with Venezuelan crude oil was carried out with great military spectacle to demonstrate that US forces are ready to advance in the offensive against Chavismo. The operation involved rappelling Marines from helicopters to the freighter named Skipper and then rerouting them to U.S. shores.
Skipper is a Guyanese false-flagged ship and was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2022 for alleged ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbolla, according to trade site Marine Traffic. Iran is one of Venezuela’s most important allies.
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Washington claims the tanker carried 1.1 million barrels, although the Venezuelan government increases that figure to 1.9 million.
American media stated that the crude oil would go to Cuba, whose government did not officially confirm this, but admitted in a statement that “these measures have a negative impact on Cuba and reinforce the US policy of maximum pressure and economic asphyxiation, with a direct impact on the national energy system and, consequently, on the daily life of our people.”
The economic heart of Venezuela. According to analysts, the operation against the oil tanker was not just another action by the US fleet in the Caribbean, but rather part of a broader plan aimed at weakening the Venezuelan economy.
In this context, Donald Trump’s administration announced new sanctions against shipping companies and ships allegedly helping to secretly transport Venezuelan oil.
As of yesterday, there were at least eight oil tankers near Venezuelan ports or off the coast of Venezuela that were subject to US sanctions related to Iran or Russia.
Maduro called the seizure a “blatant theft” from Washington, which Caracas said was evidence that “the goal was always to seize Venezuelan oil.”
According to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the South American country has the largest reserves in the world, around 303,221 million barrels, ahead of Saudi Arabia (267,200 million) and Iran.
Years of mismanagement and corruption have caused production to fall from its peak of 3 million barrels per day to a historic low of 350,000 barrels in 2020.
Production rose to 930,000 barrels per day in 2025. Analysts agree that it will be difficult to grow much more in the near term because the industry requires large investments that are not possible under current sanctions, even if Chinese and Russian players are included.
To avoid sanctions, Caracas resorts to “ghost ships,” vessels that circumvent the embargo with tricks such as using false flags, hiding their radar signals and programming fictitious routes. So far, the US has tolerated such a strategy. However, there appears to be a shift towards tougher measures.
Economic loss. By seizing this ship alone, Caracas lost between $50 and $100 million, according to various estimates.
Buyers of Venezuelan crude oil face US sanctions and Venezuela is forced to sell below market price, with discounts of up to 20%.
In these transactions, payments are made in stable cryptocurrencies, mainly USDT, to avoid sanctions.
With the seizure, Trump is sending a “harsh message to Maduro and telling him: ‘We can continue to seize ships,'” explains Elías Ferrer from Orinoco Research. The expert says it remains to be seen whether the skipper’s arrest is a “bluff” or whether the arrests will continue.
For Francisco Monaldi, an economist at the Baker Institute, confiscations would be widespread, “that the fleet that operates on the black market will be afraid to approach Venezuela because it will lose its ships. It would increase the risk premium and therefore the discounts, which would be very high.” “The double effect of price reductions and lower export volumes could then have a very important effect” on economic life, he specifies.
*AFP
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