US President Donald Trump says the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, raising tensions with the South American country and also causing oil prices to rise.
“We just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a big tanker, very big, the largest ever, and other things are happening,” Trump said on Wednesday.
When asked what would happen to the oil, Trump said: “We’ll keep it, I guess.”
The seizure could signal intensifying efforts to go after Venezuelan oil, the country’s main source of income.
It is the first known action against an oil tanker since Trump ordered a massive US military buildup in the region and launched attacks on suspected drug ships, killing nearly 90 people since September.
The operations have raised concerns among Democratic lawmakers and legal experts.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on
A 45-second video posted by Bondi showed two helicopters approaching a ship and armed individuals in camouflage abseiling onto it.
Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation was led by the U.S. Coast Guard. They did not mention the name of the tanker, the country whose flag it flew, or the exact location where the interdiction took place.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker Skipper was reportedly seized off the coast of Venezuela early on Wednesday. The US imposed sanctions on the tanker over its alleged involvement in Iran’s oil trade, when it was called the Adisa.
The skipper left the Venezuelan oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading Venezuelan heavy crude Merey, according to satellite information analyzed by TankerTrackers.com and the internal shipping data of Venezuelan state oil and natural gas company PDVSA.
Venezuela demands an end to US intervention
Venezuela’s controversial president Nicolás Maduro demanded an end to US intervention in his country on Wednesday.
“From Venezuela, we ask and demand an end to the US government’s illegal and brutal interventionism in Venezuela and Latin America,” he told his supporters in Caracas.
Maduro has claimed that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC country’s vast oil reserves.
Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 attacks on suspected drug ships in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing nearly 90 people.
Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of a US military intervention in Venezuela.
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