President Donald Trump said the United States has begun receiving large volumes of crude oil from Venezuela, hours after the Pentagon announced U.S. forces had seized another tanker linked to the sanctioned South American oil trade in waters of the Indian Ocean.
Speaking during his State of the Union address in Washington on Tuesday night, Trump told lawmakers that shipments from Caracas had already started arriving in the United States.
“We just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil,” he said, adding that domestic output was also rising and reiterating his campaign promise to expand drilling.
The comments came against the backdrop of a broader shift in U.S. policy toward Venezuela following a January operation in which American forces captured President Nicolas Maduro and transported him to the United States. The administration has since indicated it intends to reopen Venezuela’s energy sector to foreign investment, particularly from U.S. oil companies.
Days before the operation, senior executives from major energy firms including Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips met with the president at the White House to discuss future access to Venezuelan reserves. Washington has signalled that American companies could play a central role in restoring production from the country’s vast oil fields, which hold some of the largest proven reserves in the world.
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Defense said special operations troops had intercepted a third tanker connected to sanctioned oil movements. In a social media statement, the Pentagon said military units tracked the vessel across multiple regions before boarding it from helicopters at sea.
“Three boats ran and now all three have been captured,” the department wrote, releasing video that showed armed personnel descending onto a ship’s deck.
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Officials did not specify the vessel’s departure port but said it had been monitored from the Caribbean into the Indian Ocean. Maritime tracking analysts identified the ship as the tanker Bertha, which monitoring group TankerTrackers.com said was carrying roughly 1.9 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey 16 crude.
Shipping records indicated the tanker had previously sailed under the flag of the Cook Islands when it was sanctioned over links to Iranian oil trade, before later appearing under a different registry associated with Curacao and management tied to a company based in China.
Analysts say the seizures appear designed to enforce U.S. sanctions and prevent unauthorized transport of crude while Washington restructures Venezuela’s oil sector under new political arrangements.
The administration has presented its approach as part of a broader strategy to expand global energy supply alongside increased domestic production.
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Trump noted that U.S. oil output had grown by more than 600,000 barrels per day.
Critics, however, have questioned both the legality of maritime interdictions and the political implications of American involvement in Venezuela’s energy industry.
Caracas had previously accused Washington of seeking control of its natural resources, a charge the U.S. government denies.
The developments are unfolding as the United States also pursues new exploration and drilling projects at home, including expanded extraction in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The policy contrasts with calls from some Caribbean and island nations for faster adoption of renewable energy as they face stronger storms and rising sea levels linked to climate change.
Defense officials have not disclosed where the seized tanker is being taken or what will happen to the cargo. Further maritime operations have not been ruled out as authorities continue monitoring vessels suspected of transporting sanctioned oil.