The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four Venezuelan oil companies and designated four additional oil tankers as blocked property, accusing them of supporting President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) named the ships Nord Star, Lunar Tide, Rosalind, and Della, along with their ownership companies, in the sanctions. The move bars the firms and vessels from accessing any property or financial assets in the U.S., and violations could trigger further penalties.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the action continues President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Maduro and his allies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added that the U.S. “will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs.”
The sanctions come amid a broader U.S. crackdown that has included the seizure of two oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, and a recent CIA drone attack on a suspected cartel docking area.
Trump has also ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and demanded the return of assets previously seized from U.S. oil companies, accusing Maduro’s government of using oil revenues to fund drug trafficking and other crimes.