US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, Trump says, adding ‘we keep’ the oil
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A video screen grab by US Attorney-General Pam Bondi of what she said was the US Coast Guard executing “a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran” on Dec 10.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – The US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Dec 10, ratcheting up tensions with Caracas in a move that also raised oil prices.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” said Mr Trump, who has been pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.
Asked what would happen with the oil, Mr Trump said: “We keep it, I guess.”
The Venezuelan government, in a statement, accused the US of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy”. It said it would denounce the incident before international bodies.
Mr Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela.
The seizure is the first of a Venezuelan oil cargo amid US sanctions that have been in force since 2019. It is also the Trump administration’s first known action against a Venezuela-related tanker since he ordered a massive military build-up in the region.
The US has already carried out several strikes against suspected drug vessels, which have raised concerns among lawmakers and legal experts.
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi posted on X that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security and Coast Guard, along with support from the US military, carried out a seizure warrant for a crude tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
A 45-second video posted by Ms Bondi showed two helicopters approaching a vessel and armed individuals in camouflage rappelling onto it.
Iran’s embassy in Caracas condemned the action as a “grave violation of international laws and norms” in a post on X on Dec 11.
Trump administration officials did not name the vessel or disclose its location at the time of the seizure.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the very large crude carrier Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela early on Dec 10. The US has imposed sanctions on the tanker for what Washington said was its involvement in Iranian oil trading when it was called the Adisa.
The Skipper left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between Dec 4 and Dec 5 after loading Venezuela's Merey heavy crude.
It transferred about 200,000 barrels near Curacao to the Panama-flagged Neptune 6 bound for Cuba before the seizure, according to satellite information analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
Guyana’s maritime authority said Skipper was falsely flying the country’s flag. The vessel had transported Venezuelan oil to Asia between 2021 and 2022, the PDVSA data showed.
Oil futures rose following news of the seizure. After trading in negative territory, Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to settle at US$62.21 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 21 cents, also 0.4 per cent, to close at US$58.46 per barrel.
Mr Maduro, on Dec 10, spoke at a march commemorating a military battle, without addressing reports of the tanker’s seizure.
Impact on oil?
Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in November, the third-highest monthly average so far in 2025, as PDVSA imported more naphtha to dilute its extra-heavy oil output. Even amid increasing pressure over Mr Maduro, Washington had until now not moved to interfere with the country’s oil flows.
Venezuela has had to deeply discount its crude for its main buyer, China, due to growing competition with sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran.
“This is just yet another geopolitical/sanctions headwind hammering spot supply availability,” Mr Rory Johnston, an analyst with Commodity Context, said.
“Seizing this tanker further inflames those prompt supply concerns but also doesn’t immediately change the situation fundamentally because these barrels were already going to be floating around for a while,” Mr Johnston said.
Chevron, which partners state oil company PDVSA, said on Dec 10 that its operations in the country are normal and continuing without disruption.
The company, which is responsible for all Venezuelan crude exports to the US, in November increased crude exports to the US to some 150,000 bpd from 128,000 bpd in October.
Increasing pressure on Maduro
Mr Maduro has alleged that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the vast oil reserves of the nation, which is part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
Experts say the strikes may be illegal, since there has been little or no proof made public that the boats are carrying drugs or that it was necessary to blow them out of the water rather than stop them, seize their cargo and question those on board.
Concerns about the strikes increased in December after reports that the commander overseeing the operation ordered a second strike that killed two survivors.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Dec 10 found that a broad swath of Americans oppose the US military’s campaign of deadly strikes on the boats, including about one-fifth of Mr Trump’s Republicans.
Mr Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela.
In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Mr Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere. REUTERS
