The statement is not 100% exact but close enough for a reasonable person (e.g., claimed 70% vs. actual 65%). Learn more in Methodology.
The oil quarantine remains in effect and U.S. authorities continue to obtain court orders and seize sanctioned oil shipments as described.
Available evidence indicates that the United States has, as of late 2025 and early 2026, established and is maintaining a maritime “quarantine” or limited blockade focused on sanctioned oil tankers linked primarily to Venezuela, and that it has been using judicial mechanisms (civil forfeiture complaints and seizure orders) to take custody of sanctioned oil and related proceeds. Military reporting describes U.S. forces “enforcing what the White House calls a maritime ‘quarantine’ around Venezuela” to stop sanctioned fuel shipments, and other analyses tie this to Operation Southern Spear and a broader oil-focused pressure campaign. Official Justice Department and ICE releases from 2025 detail ongoing seizures of Iranian petroleum and proceeds through civil forfeiture in U.S. courts, and a Wall Street Journal–based summary notes that U.S. forces planned a forcible boarding of a shadow‑fleet tanker “under a judicial seizure order” as part of the new maritime quarantine targeting Venezuelan‑linked oil. However, the legal authority to obtain court orders derives from existing sanctions and forfeiture statutes, not from the “quarantine” itself, and the forward‑looking claim that this leverage “will continue” reflects stated policy intent rather than a verifiable future fact. The statement is therefore broadly accurate in describing a continuing oil-focused maritime campaign backed by court‑ordered seizures, but it overstates the quarantine as the authorizing legal basis and includes an element of prediction. The verdict is Close because evidence supports the existence and continued use of a maritime oil quarantine and court‑ordered seizures of sanctioned oil, but the claim slightly mischaracterizes the legal relationship between the quarantine and judicial seizure authority and asserts a future course of action that cannot be fully verified.