The United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas and pushing oil prices higher.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” Trump said, reiterating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. When asked about the fate of the oil, Trump replied: “We keep it, I guess.”
In response, the Venezuelan government condemned the move as “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy,” vowing to defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity, and to raise the matter with international bodies.
This marks the first known action against an oil tanker since Trump ordered a military buildup in the region.
The US has previously targeted suspected drug vessels, raising legal and diplomatic concerns.
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi confirmed on X that the FBI, Homeland Security, Coast Guard, and military executed a seizure warrant on the crude oil tanker, used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
A brief video posted by Bondi showed helicopters approaching the vessel and armed personnel rappelling onto it.
While US officials did not publicly name the vessel, British maritime risk firm Vanguard identified it as the Skipper. The tanker had departed Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4–5 after loading roughly 1.1 million barrels of Merey heavy crude, according to satellite and PDVSA data.
The seizure affected oil markets, with Brent crude rising 27 cents to $62.21 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate gaining 21 cents to $58.46 per barrel.
Maduro addressed a military commemoration on Wednesday but did not directly comment on the tanker’s seizure.
Impact on oil?
Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, the third-highest monthly average so far this year, as PDVSA imported more naphtha to dilute its extra-heavy oil output.
Even as Washington increased pressure on Maduro, the U.S. had not previously moved to interfere with oil flows.
Venezuela has had to deeply discount its crude to 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,” 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,” Johnston said.
Chevron, which partners with PDVSA, said its operations in the country were normal and continuing without disruption.
The US oil major, responsible for all Venezuelan crude exports to the United States, last month increased crude exports to the US to 150,000 bpd from 128,000 bpd in October.
Increasing pressure on Maduro
Maduro has alleged that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.
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.
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 attacks on the boats increased this month after reports that the commander overseeing one of the operations ordered a second strike that killed two survivors.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday found that a broad swath of Americans oppose the US military’s campaign of deadly strikes on the boats, including about one-fifth of Trump’s Republicans.
In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
