The US Energy Department signalled yesterday it will begin selectively removing sanctions to allow Venezuelan oil to be shipped and sold into global markets. In a policy outline published on Wednesday, the department said the Trump administration aims to reintroduce Venezuelan crude under controlled conditions, even as enforcement against sanctioned shipping intensifies. The contradiction was underlined almost immediately by the seizure of two more Venezuela-linked VLCCs in separate US operations. One of the vessels captured is the 2002-built VLCC Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1, after a two-week pursuit that spanned a name change, a reflagging to Russia and reports of Russian naval assets operating nearby. US authorities said the tanker was finally seized in the North Atlantic under a federal court warrant, with support from the UK Ministry of Defence. US vice president JD Vance described Bella 1 as a “fake Russian oil tanker” that pretended to be Russian “in an effort to avoid the sanctions regime”. A second tanker, the 2004-built 320,000 dwt M Sophia, was seized in the Caribbean. US Southern Command said the VLCC was stateless, sanctioned and part of the shadow fleet, and is now being escorted to the US. The tanker seizures come as secretary of state Marco Rubio outlined yesterday a three-phase plan for Venezuela focused on stabilisation, recovery and political transition. Rubio said Washington would sell seized oil at market prices and control how proceeds are distributed, before gradually reopening Venezuela’s oil sector to western and other international companies. From a market perspective, Veson Nautical senior maritime analyst Thomas Zwick cautioned that near-term trade flow impacts remain uncertain, but warned of growing pressure on dark fleet tonnage as enforcement tightens. Venezuela owns around 20 dark fleet vessels, a small fraction of the global tanker fleet, but increased scrutiny could accelerate disruption. Maritime analytics platform Kpler said any drawdown of Venezuelan stocks will be slow under US control, but longer term the implications are clear: roughly 675,000 barrels per day currently shipped on shadow vessels would migrate back to the commercial fleet, boosting aframax and suezmax demand while sharply worsening prospects for the shadow VLCC segment. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsUnited States Venezuela