US hits Chinese oil firms and tankers in stepped-up Venezuela sanctions push

The Trump administration has intensified its pressure on Venezuela’s vital oil sector by imposing sanctions on companies based in mainland China and Hong Kong, along with several oil tankers accused of helping Caracas evade longstanding US restrictions, Bloomberg reported. The move signals a sharper warning to Beijing as Washington DC escalates its confrontation with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the US Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had added four firms with alleged links to Venezuela’s oil trade to its sanctions list.

The companies named were Zhejiang-based Corniola Ltd., and Hong Kong-based Aries Global Investment Ltd., Krape Myrtle Co and Winky International Ltd. Four vessels associated with those firms—Della, Nord Star, Rosalind and Valiant—were also sanctioned.

Rare focus on Chinese-linked firms

While Washington DC has previously sanctioned dozens of vessels and intermediaries involved in Venezuela’s oil exports, the inclusion of Chinese-linked companies is relatively unusual.

Analysts say the move underscores US concern about China’s role as Venezuela’s largest oil customer, with crude exports accounting for an estimated 95 per cent of the South American country’s revenues.

“These vessels, some of which are part of the shadow fleet serving Venezuela, continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s illegitimate narco-terrorist regime,” the Treasury Department said. “Maduro’s regime increasingly depends on a shadow fleet of worldwide vessels to facilitate sanctionable activity, including sanctions evasion, and to generate revenue for its destabilizing operations.”

Ship-tracking data suggests that of the four vessels cited, only the Rosalind has recently operated near Venezuela, typically on short-haul coastal journeys. US officials acknowledged that other ships may have travelled without transmitting location data, a tactic often used to obscure sanctioned activity.

Mounting pressure from Washington

The latest sanctions form part of a broader campaign by President Donald Trump to choke off revenue streams linked to Maduro’s government, which Washington accuses of involvement in drug trafficking. On Tuesday, the Treasury Department also sanctioned 10 individuals and companies in Iran and Venezuela over alleged weapons trading.

US military activity has intensified alongside financial measures. In recent weeks, American forces have intercepted two vessels and pursued a third away from Venezuelan waters.

According to US Southern Command, strikes carried out on 30 December sank three boats and killed three people, while others jumped into the sea before follow-up strikes destroyed the vessels.

Southern Command said the Coast Guard was alerted to conduct search-and-rescue operations, though the fate of those who fled was not disclosed. A separate strike on two additional boats reportedly killed five people.

Earlier this week, Trump confirmed that the US had also struck a facility inside Venezuela, targeting loading docks allegedly used by narco-trafficking boats—marking a significant escalation in the campaign. CNN later reported that the CIA carried out a drone strike on a coastal dock linked to the gang Tren de Aragua, citing unnamed sources.

China pushes back

China has condemned the US measures, describing Washington’s quarantine of Venezuelan ports as “unilateral bullying” and arguing that ship seizures violate international law. Despite official pauses following US sanctions imposed in 2019, Chinese refiners—particularly privately owned “teapot” refiners—have remained key buyers of Venezuelan crude through indirect channels.

China formally resumed Venezuelan oil imports in February 2024, but traders and data providers say purchases never fully stopped, with shipments often relabelled as bitumen mix to bypass sanctions.

Strategic signal to Beijing

According to Bloomberg’s analysis, targeting firms tied to China may be intended less as a disruption of individual shipments and more as a strategic signal to Beijing to limit its involvement in Venezuela’s energy trade.

With tensions rising over both economic sanctions and military actions, the measures suggest Washington DC is prepared to widen its pressure campaign beyond Caracas to those seen as enabling it.

As the standoff deepens, the sanctions highlight how Venezuela’s oil industry has become a focal point not only of US foreign policy towards Latin America, but also of its increasingly fraught relationship with China.