Venezuela live updates: U.S. vows to control Venezuela’s oil ‘indefinitely’ as British army helps Trump seize two tankers

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the US military could be deployed in Venezuela to help protect oil workers sent there by American oil companies.

Asked about how the government could reassure the US oil companies that their workers would be safe, Leavitt confirmed that troops may be involved.

“The president, of course, reserves the right to use the military if necessary,” she said.

U.S. officials have claimed that the Trump administration needs to control Venezuela’s oil sales and revenue indefinitely to stabilize that country’s economy, rebuild its oil sector and ensure it acts in America’s interests.

The comments reflect the importance of crude oil to President Donald Trump’s strategy in Venezuela after U.S. forces ousted the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a raid on the capital Caracas on Saturday.

“We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela,” U.S. energy secretary Chris Wright said at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami.

He said the revenues would be used to stabilize Venezuela’s economy and eventually to repay oil majors Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips for losses when their assets were nationalized by former President Hugo Chavez nearly two decades ago.

U.S. vice president JD Vance said that controlling Venezuela’s oil meant controlling the country.

“We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime: ‘You’re allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America’s national interest; you’re not allowed to sell it if you can’t serve America’s national interest,” he told the Fox News.

The British army supported the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said.

The U.S. seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean, one sailing under Russia’s flag called the Marinera, as part of president Donald Trump’s aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas.

After capturing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a Saturday military raid on Caracas, the U.S. is escalating its blockade of vessels that are under sanctions and going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers group.

The UK MoD said the US asked Britain for assistance, and RAF surveillance aircraft and a Royal Navy support ship, the RFA Tideforce, took part in the operation.

Defence secretary John Healey said the action was “in full compliance with international law”, adding the UK “will not stand by as malign activity increases on the high seas”.

Oil producer Chevron is in talks with the U.S. government to expand a key license to operate in Venezuela so it can increase crude exports to its own refineries and sell to other buyers, according to a Reuters report.

The talks come as Washington and Caracas progress in talks to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. and president Donald Trump presses American oil companies to invest in the South American country’s energy sector.

U.S. officials have said this week that proceeds from the Venezuelan oil supply, which is expected to help state energy company PDVSA drain inventories amid a severe oil blockade, will go to a U.S.-overseen trustee. Proceeds are meant to finance supplies of American goods to Venezuela.

Chevron is the only U.S. oil major operating in Venezuela, which it does under an authorization from the U.S. government that exempts it from sanctions on the country.

As part of its sanction-hardening campaign to weaken Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration in July put additional restrictions on Chevron’s license.

Those restrictions reduced the volume of Venezuelan crude the company is exporting to the U.S. to some 100,000 barrels per day in December from 250,000 bpd earlier this year.

The White House has said that all proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil will “settle” in US bank accounts to “guarantee the legitimacy” before being disbursed back the South American nation.

“The United States government has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude oil in the global marketplace for the benefit of the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.

“All proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil and products will first settle in U.S. accounts at globally recognized banks to guarantee the legitimacy and integrity of the ultimate distribution of proceeds, and those funds will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people, at the discretion of the United States government.”

Venezuela could face violent instability following the shock capture of President Nicolas Maduro by the US military, experts have warned.

While Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez was quickly sworn in with US-backing, there are fears a political vacuum sets the stage for a power struggle among multiple heavily armed factions that could spark an insurgency.

After deposing Venezuela’s president and taking over the country’s enormous oil reserves, President Donald Trump is floating the idea of using taxpayer funding to incentivize U.S.-based oil companies to expand operations there.

Since the military operation that led to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Trump said he would like the U.S.’s “very large” oil companies to “spend billions of dollars” to fix Venezuela’s broken oil infrastructure.

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U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that revenue from Venezuelan oil sales will be used to stabilize the country’s economy first, before repaying fossil fuel giants such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips for their losses there.

Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips were major producers in the country before their projects were nationalized by former President Hugo Chavez nearly two decades ago.

Oil prices fell again on Wednesday as investors digested Trump’s deal to import up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude.

The move would lift supplies to the world’s largest oil consumer.

Brent crude futures were down 77 cents, or 1.3 percent, to trade at $59.94 a barrel by 1:58 p.m. EST (6.58 p.m. GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.14, or 2 percent, to $55.99 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slipped more than $1 a barrel during the previous trading session, with market participants expecting ample global supply this year.

The deal between Washington and Caracas initially could require the rerouting of cargoes that were bound for China, sources told Reuters.