Trump Says Venezuela to Send US Oil Worth Up to $2.8 Billion

President Donald Trump said Venezuela would relinquish as much as 50 million barrels of oil to the US, worth roughly $2.8 billion at the current market price, announcing the cargoes would be sold with proceeds benefiting both countries. the announcement late on Tuesday, which came with few details, marked a significant step up for the US government as it seeks to extend its economic influence in Venezuela and beyond after the capture of leader Nicolas Maduro over the weekend. It's also a blow to China, previously the top buyer of the country's oil and a close partner. Our EMEA news director Will Kennedy joined Stephen Carroll and Valerie Tytel on Bloomberg Radio with the details.

US forces seized a Russia-flagged ship in the north Atlantic that’s been at the center of a dramatic sea chase across the ocean, an aggressive expansion of its blockade of sanctioned vessels going to and from Venezuela.

The US European Command announced the capture of the M/V Bella 1 in a social media post, saying the ship was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court” after being tracked by a US Coast Guard vessel.

The seizure marks the conclusion of a chase that began in late December when the tanker turned away from Venezuela and retreated out into the Atlantic Ocean in a bid to avoid a US quarantine. The Trump administration deployed its naval assets in the Caribbean to squeeze President Nicolas Maduro in the days before US special-forces launched an operation to capture him.

“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X.

Soon after the capture, the Pentagon announced US forces had seized another tanker in a pre-dawn raid. The M/T Sophia was found “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea” and is headed to the US “for final disposition,” US Southern Command said on X.

The capture of the first vessel risks inflaming tensions with Russia after the Bella 1, in a bid to avoid capture, switched to a Russian flag — its crew even painted the Russian tricolor on its hull — and changed its name to the Marinera. The US had sanctioned the ship in 2024 for carrying sanctioned oil on behalf of a company linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US.

Russia had sent a submarine and other naval assets to provide an escort for the vessel and asked the US to stop pursuing the vessel, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It also signals how the administration is continuing to expand the scope of its campaign with a willingness to pursue ships even if they’re far away from Venezuela. In interviews after Maduro’s ouster, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said restricting the flow of oil would be a crucial way to exert leverage on the Venezuelan leaders who succeed Maduro.

Since imposing its oil quarantine, US forces have boarded a non-sanctioned ship known as Centuries, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based entity, and intercepted another very large crude carrier, the Skipper, on Dec. 10.

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