The US Coast Guard is pursuing a tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials said. Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
“The US Guard is actively pursuing a sanctioned Dark Fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a US official said. “You are flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
Another official said the tanker was under sanctions, but added that it had not been boarded so far and that interceptions can take different forms, including sailing or flying near vessels of interest.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give a specific location for the operation or name the ship being pursued.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump announced last week a “blockade” of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela.
Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has included an increased military presence in the region and more than two dozen military attacks on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation. At least 100 people have been killed in the attacks.
The first two tankers seized were operating on the black market and supplying oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said in a television interview on Sunday.
“That’s why I don’t think people should be worried here in the United States that prices are going to go up because of these seizures of these ships,” Hassett said in C.B.S.from the program “Face the Nation.” “There are only a couple of them, and they were black market ships.”
But one oil trader said Reuters that the seizures may push up oil prices slightly when Asian trade resumes on Monday.
“We could see prices rise modestly at the open, considering market participants could see this as an escalation with more Venezuelan barrels at risk since the oil tanker was not on a US sanctions list,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
Another analyst said the seizures pose geopolitical risks and are likely to create friction in the shadow fleet of ships carrying oil from sanctioned countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran.
The seizures could legitimize and encourage Ukraine to continue attacking Russian vessels and possibly encourage Europe to also stop dark fleet vessels linked to Moscow, said Matias Togni, oil shipping analyst at NextBarrel.
Oil production from Venezuela and Iran is already showing signs of slowing, Togni said, adding that he expects the same to happen with Russia. Oil from countries under sanctions is likely to be offered at deeper discounts as logistics become more expensive, which could help limit gains in benchmark oil prices, he said.
