The United States military has seized its seventh oil tanker linked to Venezuela, as Washington escalates its efforts to control the production and export of Venezuelan oil.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), responsible for military operations in Latin America, announced on Tuesday that US forces intercepted and captured the motor vessel Sagitta as part of a broader blockade targeting ships entering or leaving Venezuelan ports.
“The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
The command said the seizure took place “without incident,” releasing video footage that appeared to show US forces approaching the vessel by air and boarding it.
The operation is part of a campaign that began on December 10, when the US started confiscating sanctioned tankers as part of a broader strategy to tighten pressure on Venezuela’s government.
Tensions between the two nations escalated further on January 3, when President Donald Trump authorised a military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In the weeks leading up to that operation, Trump and key advisers had increasingly discussed claiming control over Venezuelan oil resources, citing the US’s historical involvement in the country’s petroleum industry.
Venezuela nationalised its oil sector in 1971, and later moved to expropriate foreign oil assets in 2007, a policy that has long been criticised by the Trump administration. US officials argue that Venezuelan oil assets were “stolen” from American owners, though legal experts largely consider such claims a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Despite the dispute over legality, the Trump administration has maintained that it will dictate the sale of Venezuelan oil and has threatened further military action to force compliance from Caracas.
The US has also imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Venezuela, continuing a trend that began during Trump’s first presidential term. Washington has defended the tanker seizures as enforcement of these sanctions, though the use of military force to implement economic penalties remains legally contested.
President Trump has said that oil revenues from Venezuela will be directed into a US-controlled bank account. He also highlighted that control over Venezuelan oil is a key lever in exerting pressure on Cuba, which relies heavily on Venezuelan fuel supplies.
At a White House briefing on Tuesday, Trump claimed the US has seized 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil. “We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left,” he said. “We’re selling it on the open market. We’re bringing down oil prices incredibly.”
In contrast, interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez stated that her government had received $300 million from recent oil sales. She also indicated plans to reform Venezuela’s hydrocarbon law to attract more foreign investment, as outlined in her recent state of the union address.
