US pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela, reports say
- - US pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela, reports say
Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAYDecember 22, 2025 at 3:43 AM
0
The United States is pursuing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, according to multiple reports, just a day after the Coast Guard seized a different tanker in the same waters amid a rapid U.S. military buildup in the region.
If seized, it would mark the third U.S. interception of an oil tanker in less than two weeks. An official told Reuters on Dec. 21 the tanker was under sanctions, and it had not been boarded so far. Officials did not give a specific location for the operation or name the vessel being pursued, according to Reuters. Bloomberg was among the first to report on the operation.
The pursuit of the tanker comes less than a week after President Donald Trump ordered a "blockade" of all the sanctioned ships from entering and leaving Venezuela, further pressuring the oil-rich nation's economy. Trump announced the move in a Dec. 16 post on Truth Social, also relaying he formally designated Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his government allies of a foreign terrorist organization.
1 / 5See President Trump speak from the White House in primetimePresident Donald Trump delivers an address to the Nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025.
More: Why is Trump threatening Venezuela? What to know after tanker seizures
Trump has accused Maduro of being a drug trafficker and sending fentanyl that has contributed to the American opioid crisis, and he has blamed the country for a wave of immigration to the United States in recent years.
Maduro has alleged that the U.S. military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the nation's oil resources, which are the world's largest in crude reserves. The country relies heavily on its export of crude oil, especially with its top trade partner, China.
More: Trump leaves open option of war with Venezuela
The United States executed its first oil tanker seizure on Dec. 10 in the recent friction. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. On Dec. 20, the U.S. seized a Panama-flagged oil tanker.
Only the first vessel was on the U.S. sanctions list.
A U.S. military helicopter flies over the Panama-flagged Centuries, which was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard, days after President Donald Trump announced a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, east of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea December 20, 2025
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House's National Economic Council, told CBS News on Dec. 21 that both oil tankers were operating on the black market and providing oil to countries under sanctions.
While many vessels picking up oil in Venezuela are under sanctions, others transporting the country's oil and crude from Iran and Russia have not been sanctioned. Some companies, particularly the U.S. oil company Chevron, transport Venezuelan oil in their own authorized ships.
Since the U.S. imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders and refiners buying Venezuelan oil have resorted to a "shadow fleet" of tankers that disguise their location and to vessels sanctioned for transporting Iranian or Russian oil.
Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY.
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela
Source: “AOL Breaking”
