ISTANBUL

Chevron has chartered a fleet of at least 11 tankers scheduled to arrive in Venezuela in January, as an American embargo continues on that nation's oil following a recent US military operation, according to a Bloomberg report Tuesday.

The ships are headed to the Venezuelan government-controlled ports of Jose and Bajo Grande to load crude oil destined exclusively for refineries in the US, it said.

One of the ships bound has completed loading, two others are currently docked, according to Bloomberg.

The "small armada" marks an increase from the nine vessels chartered in December, it said.

Chevron operates under a special license from the US Treasury Department, making it the only company permitted to export Venezuelan oil amid the embargo.

Exports resumed Monday after a brief four-day pause caused by Operation Absolute Resolve -- the US military operation Saturday that resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

While US President Donald Trump emphasized that the broader oil embargo remains in effect, the administration has framed the intervention as a revival of the Monroe Doctrine, explicitly linking the removal of Maduro to securing influence on Venezuela's vast oil reserves and combating alleged narcotrafficking.

The Monroe Doctrine is a 1823 document that shaped US policy in the Western Hemisphere.