VENEZUELA – Despite US pressure, Venezuela have been able to reach its production targets with 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2025, according to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.
Workers at state oil company PDVSA achieved the target under the Productive Independence Plan and are preparing to increase production and meet 2026 goals, she said Saturday on Telegram.
Rodriguez described the accomplishment as the best Christmas gift for Venezuelans, calling it the result of efforts by oil workers who confront and defeat “harassment, hostility, and imperialist illegality that attacks and violates the human rights of Venezuelans.”
“Nothing and no one will stop us,” she said, pledging continued support for President Nicolas Maduro.
The announcement came as US forces seized oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including the Panama-flagged vessel Centuries on Saturday and Skipper on Dec. 10, with reports suggesting a third seizure is underway.
US President Donald Trump declared a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, calling Maduro’s government a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Venezuela has condemned the US actions as “international piracy.”
Washington says the measures are part of a broader effort to combat corruption and drug trafficking in the region, while Caracas accuses the US of using anti-narcotics efforts as a pretext to remove Maduro from power and gain control over Venezuela’s oil resources.
US Oil Tanker Seizures
US forces were pursuing another oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela on Sunday amid escalating tensions in the Caribbean, which if seized would mark the third interception of a tanker in the region since Dec. 10.
The official added that the vessel is “flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
The US Coast Guard’s operation is targeting the Panamanian-flagged Bella 1, a sanctioned oil tanker en route to Venezuela to load oil, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Venezuela has not issued an official statement on the latest operation.
The incident follows the boarding of the Centuries supertanker on Saturday and the Skipper on Dec. 10.
