The U.S. military says another Venezuela-linked tanker has been seized as President Trump continues his push to seize control of the country’s oil reserves.
Published January 16, 2026
The U.S. military has seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said had ties to Venezuela. This is the sixth tanker ship seized as the United States seeks full control of Venezuela’s oil resources.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker Veronica early Thursday.
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Noem said the ship had previously transited Venezuelan waters and was operating in violation of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Marines and sailors stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford participated in the operation along with a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said led the embarkation.
The U.S. military said the ship was captured “without incident.”
The Veronica is the sixth sanctions tanker seized by the U.S. military as part of President Trump’s pledge to indefinitely control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuelan oil products. It was also the fourth vessel seized since the United States abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation in Caracas nearly two weeks ago.
The seizure comes as Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez told Congress on Thursday that reforms will be made to the laws governing Venezuela’s oil sector. The Hydrocarbon Law restricts the involvement of foreign companies in the exploitation of the country’s national resources, among other provisions.
Without providing details, Rodriguez told Congress that the proposed reforms would touch on Venezuela’s so-called anti-blockade law, which provides the government with tools to counter U.S. sanctions that have been in place since 2019.
Rodriguez said the envisaged legal changes would put money into “new areas, areas where there has been no investment, areas where there is no infrastructure.”
Rodriguez also said the money from the oil would go toward workers and public services.
Oil exports are Venezuela’s main source of income.
Since President Maduro’s abduction, President Trump has now asserted that the United States controls Venezuela’s oil sector and has made clear that: of Seizing the country’s vast oil reserves was a key goal of his military onslaught against the country and its leaders.
“You do business directly with us, you don’t do business with Venezuela at all, and we don’t want you to do business with Venezuela,” President Trump said in a speech to oil company executives last week.
Venezuela has about one-fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once a major supplier of crude oil to the United States.
But OPEC says Venezuela will only produce about 1% of the world’s total oil production in 2024, hampered by years of lack of investment and U.S. sanctions and embargoes.
