WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has sharply reduced China's access to Venezuelan oil by enforcing sanctions, seizing tankers, and maintaining a US naval quarantine in the Caribbean.
The move could reshape global crude flows and intensify competition among major Asian importers, including India.
US officials say Venezuela's oil exports can no longer move freely and that any shipment now requires explicit US approval. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington has effective control over when and how Venezuelan crude enters global markets.
"We have an oil embargo on Venezuela, " Rubio said in remarks reflected in administration transcripts. "For them to do any kind of commerce, they need our permission."
That control, officials say, has cut off China's access to discounted Venezuelan oil that Beijing had continued to buy despite years of US sanctions. Chinese companies had relied on sanctions-evasion networks, including opaque shipping and payment arrangements, to move crude out of Venezuela. Energy Department documents say US enforcement measures and a naval quarantine have now shut down unauthorised export routes.