US targets ‘dozens’ of Venezuela‑linked tankers in shadow fleet squeeze

US targets ‘dozens’ of Venezuela‑linked tankers in shadow fleet squeeze
Sam Chambers January 14, 2026 https://splash247.com/us-targets-dozens-of-venezuela%e2%80%91linked-tank...

The United States is gearing up to grab a lot more Venezuela‑linked tonnage, with scores of seizure warrants now in play as Washington tightens its grip on the country’s oil exports and the shadow fleet that moves them.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, the US government has filed for court warrants to seize “dozens” of tankers tied to the Venezuelan trade, on top of five ships already intercepted in recent weeks in international waters. Those vessels were either carrying Venezuelan crude or had done so previously, and were part of the same dark fleet that has been quietly shifting sanctioned oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela in recent years.

The push is the latest twist in Washington’s hardline campaign against Caracas, which escalated dramatically with the January 3 capture of president Nicolás Maduro by US forces. Since then, the Trump administration has made it clear it intends to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely while it tries to rebuild the country’s crumbling oil sector.

Trump’s blockade on sanctioned tankers in December slammed Venezuela’s exports to near zero. Loadings have resumed in recent days, but only under US supervision. Anything moving outside those channels is now squarely in the crosshairs.

The Department of Justice has not commented publicly, but the tone from the Pentagon has been anything but subtle. The Department of Defense and other agencies will “hunt down and interdict ALL dark fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil at the time and place of our choosing,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Friday on X.

Reuters is also reporting that global oil trading houses Vitol and Trafigura have secured preliminary special licenses to negotiate and export Venezuelan crude, with Trafigura expected to load its first cargo this week. Initial cargoes are expected to head to China.

“This marks the first step towards making Venezuelan barrels compliant,” analysts at SEB, a Scandinavian bank, suggested in a note to clients, predicting that the share of crude exports carried on shadow fleet tankers will decline rapidly as additional special licences are issued and compliant logistics are reinstated.

“From a shipping perspective, this transition is expected to reduce opacity and counterparty risk while preserving long-haul Asia tonne-mile demand in the near term,” analysts at Allied Shipbroking argued in a new report.

Any future reorientation of Venezuelan exports toward the US Gulf Coast, Allied pointed out, would significantly shorten voyage distances, compress tonne-miles, and favour aframax and LR1 utilisation over long-haul VLCC employment.

“For oil markets and shipping, Venezuela remains a geopolitical wildcard, with the potential to influence price trends, freight flows, and refinery economics as trade patterns normalize over time,” Allied concluded.