The U.S. carried out operations Wednesday to seize two Venezuela-linked tankers as Trump administration officials prepared to brief all senators on Venezuela.

The lightning U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro can be seen as both a benefit and a burden for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces botched an attempt to capture Ukraine’s capital and topple its leader at the start of Moscow's invasion nearly four years ago.

Currently, Chevron is the only major U.S. firm still operating in Venezuela through joint ventures with state oil company PDVSA. Other U.S. companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips do not have ventures in Venezuela, as sanctions remain in place.

Officials say sales were expected to start with 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil and the revenue would be controlled by the US government.

Rodríguez's outreach during the first Trump administration made her a prominent face in U.S. business and political circles and paved the way for her own rise.

"This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America," Trump said.

I T MAY BE hard to imagine today, but in the 1960s and 1970s Venezuela was hailed as a model democracy. Then the oil price crashed—and Venezuela’s democracy fell with it. Econ

At least 24 Venezuelan security officers were killed in the dead-of-night U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face drug charges, officials said Tuesday.