US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against President Nicolas Maduro’s government and its main source of revenue.
Trump announced the move in a post on Truth Social, accusing the Venezuelan government of asset theft and linking it to terrorism, drug trafficking, and human smuggling. He said Venezuela’s leadership had been designated a foreign terrorist organisation, prompting the decision to block sanctioned vessels.
The White House has not clarified how the blockade will be enforced or whether the US Coast Guard will intercept tankers, as it did last week when a sanctioned vessel was seized off Venezuela’s coast. The administration has already deployed thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships to the region, including an aircraft carrier.
Venezuela’s government swiftly rejected the announcement, describing it as a “grotesque threat” and an act of intimidation against the country.
Oil markets react
Global oil markets reacted cautiously to the announcement. US crude futures rose more than 1% to $55.96 a barrel in Asian trading, after settling at $55.27 on Tuesday, the lowest close since February 2021.
Market participants said prices moved higher on expectations of reduced Venezuelan exports. However, uncertainty remains over how the blockade would be implemented and whether it would extend to non-sanctioned vessels.
Read: President Trump Announces Closure of Venezuelan Airspace
There has already been an effective embargo since the US seized a sanctioned tanker last week. Several oil-laden vessels have remained in Venezuelan waters rather than risk confiscation. Venezuelan crude exports have dropped sharply since then, a decline worsened by a recent cyberattack that disrupted the administrative systems of state-run oil company PDVSA.
While many ships lifting Venezuelan crude are under US sanctions, others transporting oil from Iran and Russia are not. Some companies, including US-based Chevron, continue to move Venezuelan oil using authorised vessels.
President Trump orders a "total and complete blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving from Venezuela. Follow live updates. https://t.co/Kpdf3xIN7m pic.twitter.com/LhYsLQ4RvR
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) December 17, 2025Legal and political concerns
The blockade has raised serious legal questions in Washington. International law experts note that while US presidents have broad authority to deploy forces abroad, a blockade is traditionally considered an instrument of war and subject to strict legal conditions.
Elena Chachko, an international law scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, said the move raises significant concerns under both domestic and international law. Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro called the blockade “unquestionably an act of war” that Congress never authorised.
Despite near-term stability in global oil supply, analysts warn that a prolonged disruption could have wider effects. If nearly one million barrels per day of Venezuelan crude are removed from the market and not offset by OPEC spare capacity, prices could rise sharply.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸🇻🇪 President Trump says Venezuela is "completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the history of South America."
"I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela." pic.twitter.com/47K4SxsREL
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) December 17, 2025David Goldwyn, a former US State Department energy diplomat, said the impact could push oil prices up by $5 to $8 a barrel. He warned that Venezuela could face surging inflation and a renewed wave of migration to neighbouring countries.
Since imposing energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders have relied on a “shadow fleet” of tankers that obscure their locations or previously carried Iranian or Russian oil. Data from TankerTrackers.com shows that more than 30 of the 80 vessels currently in or approaching Venezuelan waters are under US sanctions..
