Treasury Targets Oil Traders Engaged in Sanctions Evasion for Maduro Regime

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four companies for operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and identified four associated oil tankers as blocked property. These vessels, some of which are part of the shadow fleet serving Venezuela, continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s illegitimate narco-terrorist regime. Maduro’s regime increasingly depends on a shadow fleet of worldwide vessels to facilitate sanctionable activity, including sanctions evasion, and to generate revenue for its destabilizing operations. Today’s action further signals that those involved in the Venezuelan oil trade continue to face significant sanctions risks.“President Trump has been clear: We will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.