HOUSTON: Oil prices increased by more than 1pc on Monday as traders assessed the possible impact on crude flows from Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, following the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Brent crude futures were up 96 cents, or 1.58pc, at $61.71 a barrel by 12:56pm EDT. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 95 cents, or 1.66pc, to $58.27.

Both benchmarks rose more than $1 in late morning trade after falling more than $1 earlier in a choppy session, as investors digested news of Maduro’s capture and that Washington would take control of the Opec member whose crude exports had been under a US embargo that remains in place.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that about a dozen tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude oil and fuel have left the country’s waters in dark mode since the start of the year.

Chevron set to make a comeback; dozen ‘dark’ tankers loaded with crude and fuel ‘break US embargo’

All the identified vessels are under sanctions and most of them are supertankers that typically carry Venezuelan crude to China, according to TankerTrackers.com and shipping documents from state-run Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.

A separate group of smaller ships, also under sanctions, left the country after discharging imports or completing domestic trips.

Despite the troubles facing Caracas, its default-hit government bonds surged on Monday after the seizure of President Maduro, as it fuelled fresh hopes for one of the largest and potentially most complex ever sovereign debt restructurings.

Bonds issued by the government and state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA, jumped as much as 8.5 cents on the dollar, or around 20pc, with analysts predicting further gains to come.

“Venezuela and PDVSA bonds have roughly doubled in price during the course of 2025, but should still see a strong bounce up to 10 points at the start of Mondays session,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note to clients.

The bonds, which went into default in 2017, were the world’s best performing last year, nearly doubling in price as President Trump ratcheted up military pressure on Maduro.

Following on from President Trump’s vow to stake a claim to Venezuelan oil, Chevron is calling employees back to the country as its crude exports to the US resume and it tries to secure normal operations.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2026