BREAKING: The US Just Changed the Rules of Oil Warfare

At 6am today, US forces boarded the Skipper off Venezuela’s coast.

1.1 million barrels seized. Two helicopters. Twenty operators. Zero resistance.

This is not about one tanker.

The Skipper was sanctioned in 2022 for financing Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards through an illicit oil network run by Gulf businessman Viktor Artemov. It loaded Merey crude at Port José on December 4.

Destination: Cuba, then Asia.

It never arrived.

What happens next will reshape global oil markets.

Every Venezuelan shipping contract now requires “war clauses.” Freight costs are exploding. Merey crude discounts have doubled from $8 to $15 per barrel below Brent. PDVSA has lost all negotiating power.

One analyst: “When enforcement moves from paper sanctions to boots on deck, the market dynamics change completely.”

The mathematics of deterrence are brutal. Venezuela exports 921,000 barrels daily. Analysts estimate 300,000 to 500,000 barrels per day could vanish as shadow fleet operators recalculate risk.

The collateral damage is visible. Cuba’s oil imports have collapsed 35% this year. Provinces receive 2 to 4 hours of electricity daily. The seized tanker was their lifeline.

Meanwhile: 15,000 US troops in the Caribbean. The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group on station. 87 killed in 22 strikes since September.

Trump yesterday: “Maduro’s days are numbered.”

Maduro today: “It’s not a time for cowards. It’s time for combat.”

The shadow fleet era just hit its breaking point.

This is not a seizure. This is a demonstration.

Paper sanctions are over. Physical enforcement has begun.

Watch the insurance markets. Watch China’s teapot refineries scramble.

The cascade is starting.