Venezuelan authorities have confirmed they are still able to export oil normally following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a blockade last Tuesday.
On Wednesday, 17 Dec 2025 GMT+7, Venezuela maintained a defiant stance toward the U.S., insisting that their crude oil exports were unaffected by President Donald Trump's blockade announcement made the previous Tuesday, aimed at increasing military and economic pressure on President Nicolás Maduro's government.
Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, showed no concern over threats of increased hardship, affirming that their operations continue as usual.
"Crude oil and by-product export operations continue as normal. Tankers involved with PDVSA operations remain fully secure at sea," stated the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in a declaration.
President Trump said on Tuesday that he is enforcing a comprehensive and complete blockade against all sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The U.S. president also mentioned deploying a heavy U.S. military presence in the Caribbean Sea, including the world's largest aircraft carrier, warning that Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest naval fleet ever assembled in South American history.
The blockade announcement caused oil prices to surge in Wednesday morning trading in London, occurring just one week after U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuela's coast.
The U.S. has increased its military activities in the Mediterranean Sea over recent months, reportedly shooting at dozens of vessels alleged to be carrying drugs, resulting in many deaths, claiming these as anti-narcotics operations. Meanwhile, U.S. leaders openly accuse Venezuela of being a transnational terrorist organization.
The Venezuelan government believes these anti-narcotics operations are a pretext aimed at overthrowing Maduro, who was accused of election fraud last year, and seizing Venezuela's oil resources.
Donald Trump has sent ambiguous signals about whether he will intervene in Venezuela but stated that he believes Maduro's time in power is "coming to an end."
Venezuela's struggling economy depends heavily on oil exports. However, the Venezuelan military, which supports leftist leader Maduro, said they "are not intimidated" by Trump's threats.
"We tell the U.S. government and their president that we are not afraid of their crude and arrogant threats," said Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López at an event filled with senior commanders who reaffirmed their loyalty to Maduro.
China's Foreign Minister, whose country is a major market for Venezuelan oil, defended Maduro's government during a phone call with Venezuela's Foreign Minister, addressing what they called U.S. "oppression."
"China opposes unilateral oppression in all forms and supports every country in defending its sovereignty and national dignity," he said, adding that Venezuela "has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries."
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Source:cna