Evidence from credible sources supports the statement as accurate. Learn more in Methodology.
Public designation entries and vessel blocking actions are recorded by the U.S. government (sanctions lists and vessel sanctions/blocking notices) showing four entities designated and four tankers blocked.
U.S. government and major news sources confirm that on December 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four companies for operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and identified four associated oil tankers as blocked property. The Treasury press release explicitly states that four companies were sanctioned and four associated tankers were designated as blocked property under U.S. sanctions. Reuters likewise reports that the United States imposed sanctions on four companies operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and that the sanctions also targeted four vessels. CBS News, citing the State Department, further notes that the entities were sanctioned “for illegally operating in Venezuela’s oil sector” and that the Trump administration was “blocking four associated oil tankers.” The verdict is True because multiple credible, primary and secondary sources consistently state that four entities were sanctioned in connection with Venezuela’s oil sector and four associated tankers were blocked, matching the claim precisely.