Operation Southern Spear and Venezuela Crisis

After U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and the Trump administration signaled it would "run" Venezuela — seizing tankers, arranging sales of 30–50 million barrels to U.S. markets and pressing oil majors at the White House — Caracas advanced a draft overhaul to loosen state control, cut royalties and offer international arbitration to attract foreign capital. That mix of U.S. export control, promised revenue oversight and pro‑investor legal changes risks sidelining China’s state oil companies, which hold claims on more than 4 billion barrels now contingent on Washington’s policy and commercial decisions.