The U.S. has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas.

Secret fleet of oil tankers uses fake flags, shell companies and disabled tracking to smuggle crude from Russia, Iran and Venezuela despite sanctions.

In December 2025, the U.S. did seize an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela — just not the one shown in viral posts.

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has been subject to a cyberattack, it said on Monday, adding its operations were unaffected, even though four sources said systems remained down and oil cargo deliveries were suspended.

The U.S. government seized the ship off Venezuela this week for allegedly transporting oil to sanctioned Iran.

US forces intercepted and seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that Attorney General Pam Bondi said is under US sanctions “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.

The volume of Venezuelan oil already headed to China before the U.S. seized a tanker off the South American country's coast last week, plus a glut of crude in storage and weak demand, will limit the near-term impact of the move in the Chinese market,