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Venezuala seaports shipping and key trading…

The past two articles (SEE: War on Drugs or Oil, Part 1 and Part 2) illustrate a crisis between the United States and Venezuela, alongside sanctions from EU, UK, Canada, restricting financial dealings, freezing assets, banning arms, and blocking transactions related to debt, oil, and to pressure Venezuala for democratic reforms, citing corruption, human rights abuses, and undermining democracy.

The United States’ leverage is to cut off Venezuela’s energy sources due to violations. To understand the calamity between the U.S. and Venezuela, iis believing to provide readers with insight about “Venezuela “Little Venice, and whyy is such an important asset to the United States. Venezuela’s crude oil reserves stand among giants such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. These nations are among the thirteen member countries in the “Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)”, which control over 80% of the world’s proven oil reserves.

In addition, Venezuela has more than 20 seaports and oil terminals bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to its North, covering a total area of approximately 916,445 square kilometers (353,841 square miles). With a long coastline introducing theGulf of Venezuela and the Gulf of Paria, sharesmaritime boundaries and “Exclusive Economic Zones” (EEZs) with multiple nations like the U.S., Netherlands, France, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and the UK, primarily for resource management in the strategic Caribbean basin.   Chevron is involved in exporting Venezuelan oil back to the U.S. under specific U.S. Treasury licensing, though volumes have fluctuated with changing authorizations and sanctions, with imports dipping and then resuming in 2025, despite ongoing U.S. restrictions on Venezuela’s oil sector. Chevron is the main U.S. company operating in Venezuela, producing oil that often pays Venezuela in crude rather than cash to comply with sanctions. Chevron has a long history in Venezuela, operating there since 1923, but its authorized exports of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. significantly resumed only in late 2022 and 2023, to operate in partnership with state oil company PDVSA, making it the sole U.S. producer exporting oil from the nation despite sanctions. PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.) is Venezuela’s fully state-owned oil and gas giant, responsible for exploring, producing, refining, and exporting the nation’s vast petroleum reserves, serving as the backbone of its economy and government funding. However, the PDSVSA faces significant challenges, such as mismanagement, underinvestment, and sanctions. 

Confiscating oil and seaports from Venezuela balances a tipping scale for crude oil and the “war on drugs ” for the United States. Although cocaine exports from Colombia commonly move through Venezuela using various land, river, air, and maritime routes, primarily in the border regions, for onward trafficking to the Caribbean and, ultimately, to markets in Europe and the United States. Venezuela serves mainly as a transit country. 

The U.S. closed its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, with no diplomatic presence; however, maintains the physical site with security. Recently, the U..S. increased military presence in the Caribbean region near Venezuela, increasing tensions among both nations. Should a takeover of Venezuela by the United States be, sharing maritime borders would join with Colombia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, France, UK, Netherlands, US (via Puerto Rico/USVI).

From Venezuelan coastal fronts, the U.S. will gain far-reaching destinations to Asian markets like China and India via “dark fleet” tankers for oil, while having key neighbors such as Trinidad & Tobago, Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire, with major trade routes extending across the Atlantic to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. 

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