Chevron resumes exports of Venezuelan oil to US after four-day pause, data shows

by Reuters Jan 05, 2026

An oil tanker chartered by U.S. Chevron carrying some 300,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast departed on Monday from the OPEC country's waters, shipping data showed, after a four-day pause in the company's exports of Venezuelan oil.

Chevron is the only company currently authorized by Washington to export Venezuelan crude amid an oil embargo that U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday remained in full force after the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Chevron-chartered oil tanker Ionic Anax is seen near the Bajo Grande port in Venezuela's lake Maracaibo after loading for export, in San Francisco, Zulia State, Venezuela December 13, 2025. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia

But amid U.S. strikes in Venezuela between Friday and Saturday and the political crisis it unleashed, Chevron's loaded tankers had not set sail to the U.S. in recent days, the ship monitoring data showed.

About a dozen separate tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil and fuel departed from the country's waters with their transponders off in the first days of the year in apparent defiance of the U.S. blockade, according to shipping data and sources including TankerTracking.com.