Oil Tanker Seizure Hits Venezuela’s Lifeblood. Here’s What to
Know.
Seizures
of more tankers could put a stranglehold on Venezuela’s economy, which is
exceptionally dependent on oil to keep the government running and pay for basic
necessities.
Simon
Romero
By Simon
Romero
Reporting
from Bogotá
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/world/americas/oil-tanker-venezuela-economy-chevron.html
Dec. 11,
2025
The U.S.
seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela laid bare a crucial factor
in the standoff between Caracas and Washington: Oil remains the lifeblood of
Venezuela’s fragile economy.
Venezuela
relies on oil and oil-related products for nearly all its export revenues.
Officials use the income from the oil industry to keep the government
functioning, maintain weapons systems and import necessities, like food.
More
tanker seizures would restrict this revenue stream, according to economists.
Each seized cargo amounts to a loss in income and Venezuela could be forced to
sell its oil at a steep discount to traders still willing to risk dealing with
the country.
Oil
reigns supreme in Venezuela
Venezuela
boasts reserves of rare earth minerals, vast tracts of arable land and
glistening Caribbean beaches, which could lure foreign tourists. But oil is
still the driving force of the economy, as it has been for much of the past
century.
Venezuela
is afflicted by what economists call “Dutch disease,” in which a government
develops an unhealthy dependence on natural resource exports to the detriment
of other sectors. The concept, initially applied to the Netherlands when
natural gas deposits were found in the North Sea, involves a currency
appreciation from natural resource exports, making other exports less
competitive.
Oil
currently accounts for about 88 percent of Venezuela’s $24 billion in export
revenues, and each tanker that is seized would erode income needed to import
food and medicines. Products related to oil production, like petrochemicals,
account for much of the rest.
“A
continued policy of seizures would cause a steep decline in Venezuela’s import
capacity, plunging the country into a new recession,” said Francisco Rodríguez,
a Venezuelan economist at the University of Denver.
Making
matters worse, Venezuela’s oil output has declined because of mismanagement,
corruption and U.S. sanctions. Oil prices have also fallen from the sky-high
levels that buoyed the socialist-inspired revolution of the late Hugo Chávez,
the predecessor of the current president, Nicolás Maduro.
As
recently as 2012, Venezuela obtained about $120 billion a year from oil
exports, compared to the current level of about $21 billion, Mr. Rodríguez
said.
During
this period, Venezuela’s economy endured “the single largest economic collapse
for a non-conflict country in almost half a century,” according to the
International Monetary Fund.
Venezuela
still sits on more oil than Saudi Arabia, Russia or the United States, roughly
17 percent of the world’s known oil reserves, according to the Oil & Gas
Journal, an industry publication.
But feuds
with international oil companies, as well as the challenges of extracting the
country’s tar-like oil, have strained Venezuela’s capacity to draw greater
benefits from its reserves by increasing production.
Who buys
Venezuela’s oil?
Historically,
the United States was the largest buyer of Venezuela’s oil. This relationship
was built on geography, political affinities and the specific needs of U.S.
refineries.
Now,
China acquires about 80 percent of Venezuela’s oil exports. The buyers are
often China’s so-called “teapot refineries,” known for their compact size and
capability for processing heavily discounted crude oil.
But for
Venezuelan oil to actually reach China, the cargoes often pass through an
opaque web to avoid sanctions, involving traders, middlemen and tankers.
Skipper,
the name of the tanker seized by the United States on Wednesday, is thought to
have been deployed in this type of trade.
It was
carrying oil from the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, and was falsely
flying Guyana’s flag, that country’s maritime authority said. The ship’s
ultimate destination was Asia.
Even as
tensions simmer between the Trump administration and Venezuela, the United
States remains another important buyer of Venezuela’s oil, which is often
transported to refineries in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Another
key destination for Venezuelan oil is Cuba, where communist leaders have for
years relied on these imports to prevent electricity blackouts and provide fuel
for the island nation’s dilapidated fleet of automobiles.
But it is
not clear how much hard currency, if any, Venezuela gets from this arrangement.
The oil has often been made available to Cuba in exchange for “services” such
as the Cuban doctors who have bolstered Venezuela’s health system.
The
Chevron factor
Chevron,
the U.S. oil giant and capitalist icon, enjoys unusual standing in Venezuela,
which is led by self-described socialists. Chevron’s operations constitute
nearly a quarter of Venezuela’s oil production.
Chevron
has also figured out how to work with both Venezuela’s government and the Trump
administration, which renewed the company’s license to operate in Venezuela.
Chevron’s
emergence as a pillar of Venezuela’s economy stretches back to a bet it made
two decades ago to remain in Venezuela when the authorities began nationalizing
foreign-owned oil assets. Rivals like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips opted to
leave Venezuela at the time.
Even as
the Trump administration has stepped up its military pressure campaign
targeting Venezuela’s leadership, U.S. warships have allowed tankers carrying
oil from Chevron’s operations to reach the United States.
That
trade helped boost Venezuela’s oil exports, which rose to 920,000 barrels a day
in November, a 3 percent increase from the previous month.
Rebecca
F. Elliott contributed reporting from New York.
Simon
Romero is a Times correspondent covering Mexico, Central America and the
Caribbean. He is based in Mexico City.
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