Trump’s Venezuela oil blockade puts Chevron in the middle of a high-stakes sanctions crackdown

By Fox News · Fox News

The Trump administration's escalating crackdown on Venezuela's sanctioned oil shipments has thrust Chevron into an unusually precarious position. As the last U.S. oil company left in Venezuela , Chevron is operating in the high-tension space between Washington’s pressure campaign and the world’s largest oil reserves. That campaign was on full display on Dec. 10, when U.S. authorities seized a nondescript tanker that had been quietly moving Venezuelan crude, just one ship in a shadow fleet that keeps sanctioned oil flowing. This week, Trump pushed the campaign to a new level, ordering a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" bound for or departing Venezuela. ‘GHOST SHIPS’ FERRYING ILLICIT OIL HAVE SAILED INTO TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS And while Chevron isn’t the target of the blockade, the order still introduces fresh uncertainty for the company's operations in Venezuela’s tightly controlled oil sector. "In the case of Chevron, the U.S. government allows that oil to move, but it's certainly a very sensitive place to be," explained Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow at the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology at Brookings. But Chevron’s position is only one part of the equation. Felbab-Brown noted that the administration faces significant limits in how aggressively it can enforce a tanker blockade. "This is a major undertaking. The U.S. has the assets and the political willingness to do this to some extent in Venezuela," she said, adding that "it would be very resource-consuming for the U.S. to seize every ship or locate them." VENEZUELA HOLDS THE WORLD’S LARGEST OIL RESERVES. HERE’S HOW OTHERS COMPARE Chevron, for its part, said its operations have not been affected by the latest escalation. "Chevron's operations in Venezuela continue without disruption and in full compliance with laws and regulations applicable to its business, as well as the sanctions frameworks provided for by the U.S. government," Bill Turenne, Chevron's Head…