Trump’s Venezuela Oil Tanker Blockade Sends Oil Prices Higher and Puts Maduro Under Fresh Pressure
Dec. 18, 2025 — A new U.S. move targeting Venezuela’s oil lifeline is rippling far beyond Caracas, jolting energy markets, rattling shipping routes in the Caribbean, and drawing warnings from global powers—including Russia and China—about the risk of escalation. Late this week, President Donald Trump said he is ordering a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers moving into and out of Venezuela, intensifying Washington’s effort to choke off revenue for President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The announcement has already changed tanker behavior near Venezuelan ports and pushed crude prices off recent lows, even as traders debate what the policy