Trump Takes Aim at Venezuela’s Maduro With Tanker Blockade

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Luke Vargas (0:18)

The US escalates its campaign against Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro with a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers. Plus, a look at what the biggest IPO of the year can tell us about going public in 2026 and layoff worries mount at the office.

Rachel Louise Ensign (0:34)

It really seems like this is an age of anxiety for the white collar workers and it's showing up a bit in the jobs report, but where it's really showing up is on surveys. And it's pretty clear that office workers are really nervous about losing their jobs right now.

Luke Vargas (0:49)

It's Wednesday, December 17th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal and here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

President Trump has ordered a blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, and in a social media post he wrote that US forces now had the country completely surrounded. He also threatened a larger American military presence unless the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro returned what he claimed were stolen assets, an apparent reference to US linked holdings nationalized by the Venezuelan state. Well, to put these developments into context, I'm joined by Jorge Leon, the head of geopolitical analysis at Ristad Energy. Jorge, how big of a deal is this blockade? And we should specify that it is just a partial blockade because it appears to exclude Chevron, which has a license exempting it from US sanctions.

SPEAKER_4 (1:44)

I think it's pretty significant. Let me give you some numbers. Right now, Venezuela exports around 700,000 barrels per day.

Out of that, 150,000 barrels per day are from Chevron, and Chevron is exempted. So that leaves us with 550,000 barrels per day. Now, the important thing about those barrels is not just the number, which is significant, of course, but it's where those barrels are flowing. Those barrels are flowing to China. So this is part of a broader geopolitical confrontation. And importantly, the oil that China receives from Venezuela is heavily discounted. So, yes, I'm sure China could replace those barrels somewhere else, but those barrels would not be as cheap as the ones that they get from Venezuela.

Luke Vargas (2:29)

As for Venezuela here, Jorge, Trump has said the country could be in for a shock. What kind of financial impact could this partial blockade have?

SPEAKER_4 (2:38)

This would be devastating for the Venezuelan economy. Venezuelan economy very heavily relies on oil revenues. And essentially, those oil revenues will be, in practical terms, halted. So this would be devastating. Let's not forget that Venezuela now, it's starting to face again a period of hyperinflation. So I wouldn't be surprised if this will have very, very negative consequences for the Venezuelan economy.

Luke Vargas (3:01)

Yeah, definitely. And according to shipping monitor tankertrackers.com, several vessels that had been scheduled to load oil in Venezuela in the coming weeks have now made U-turns. So this pain will likely drag on. And yet the oil price rise that we're seeing today doesn't seem that dramatic. Brent, up around 1.5 to 2% currently.

SPEAKER_4 (3:20)

Years ago, this would have been a $5 to $10 per barrel increase. This is the case because we're entering into a period in the oil market of surplus. Massive surplus in the oil market, the price is coming down. So it is good timing for the US administration to put so much pressure on Venezuela right now because again, we're in a period of oversupply. So if you're ever going to put pressure on an oil producing country, it's better to do it now as opposed to a few years ago when prices were high, there was a high risk of supply disruption that would impact oil prices. Right now, prices are at the lowest level since February 2021 So timing is really favorable for the US administration.

Luke Vargas (4:05)

That was Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Ristad Energy.

The Trump administration has expanded its travel ban to cover five additional countries and has added partial bans on an additional 15, including Africa's most populous country, Nigeria. According to a White House announcement, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria are joining the list of countries whose citizens are nearly all banned from immigrating to or entering the US. In total, citizens of 39 countries plus Palestinian nationals are now subject to full or partial travel bans. Trump ordered the legal immigration crackdown after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington last month. And prosecutors in Los Angeles have charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of his parents, Hollywood director Rob Reiner and photographer Michelle Reiner. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hockman said the 32-year-old is being held without bail.