Trump's Venezuela oil blockade puts Chevron in the middle of a high-stakes sanctions crackdown
The administration broadens a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s oil shipments, creating new uncertainty for Chevron as the last U.S. company operating in the country.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Dec. 10 expanded its sanctions campaign against Venezuela by ordering a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers bound for or departing Venezuela, a move aimed at tightening pressure on Caracas while adding risk for companies tied to the country’s oil sector. The step comes after U.S. authorities seized a nondescript tanker earlier this month that had been quietly moving Venezuelan crude as part of what officials describe as a shadow fleet that keeps sanctioned oil flowing.
Chevron remains the last American oil company operating in Venezuela after Western firms ceded majority stakes to PDVSA, the state oil company. The blockade is not aimed at Chevron directly, but it raises questions about how the company can operate inside a tightly controlled environment under U.S. sanctions. Analysts cautioned that enforcing a full tanker blockade would be a major undertaking and would require substantial resources; officials would have to balance pressure against the practicalities of tracing and seizing every vessel. In this context, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Vanda Felbab-Brown, described the move as a delicate and politically sensitive effort for any company with ties to Venezuela’s oil market.
Chevron said its Venezuela operations continue without disruption and in full compliance with laws and regulations applicable to its business, including the sanctions frameworks provided for by the U.S. government. The company did not offer a broader assessment of the security environment beyond directing questions about security in Venezuela to U.S. authorities. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Chevron noted that its operations in Venezuela have persisted for a century in the country, even as the government encouraged minority partnerships with PDVSA and other international actors. The company’s public policy chief, Bill Turenne, emphasized that Chevron remains focused on compliance and lawful operations under the current sanctions regime.
For the Maduro government, disruptions to oil shipments threaten the backbone of its economy. Venezuela is heavily dependent on oil exports, and any attempt to bypass sanctions and trade oil outside normal channels is viewed by analysts as an existential threat to the regime’s finances. Benjamin Jensen, who heads the Futures Lab at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, framed the blockade as a warning that sanctions enforcement will extend beyond official channels and require constant adaptation from Caracas. He noted that the trajectory of the campaign will depend on how aggressively Washington pushes the blockade and how effectively Venezuela can respond.
White House officials have publicly signaled a willingness to seize oil on vessels that violate the restrictions. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration intends to seize oil on the tanker if possible, underscoring the administration’s willingness to take aggressive steps to enforce the blockade. Still, analysts cautioned that the practical execution of a full blockade would demand extensive resources, and the global oil market would watch closely to see whether any disruption feeds into prices or just rearranges trade patterns.
Ultimately, the outcome hinges on how aggressively the United States can enforce the blockade and how resilient Venezuela and its allies are to distant enforcement. The latest move foregrounds the tension between a broad, high-stakes sanctions strategy and the real-world challenges of policing a global oil market that includes the world’s largest proven reserves. As the administration weighs further steps, markets and policymakers will monitor whether the crackdown delivers a decisive economic blow or evolves into another iteration of sanctions cat and mouse in a tightly choreographed energy landscape.