The United States Coast Guard on Sunday launched a pursuit of an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than a week.
One of the officials stated that the tanker is under sanctions.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify the exact location of the operation.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all oil tankers under sanctions entering or leaving Venezuela.
Trump’s campaign to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has included an increased military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American country. At least 100 people died in those attacks.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the first two seized tankers operated on the black market and supplied oil to sanctioned countries.
– I don’t think people in the US should worry about prices going up because of these ship seizures – said Hassett. “It’s only a couple of ships and they were from the black market.”
On the other hand, one oil trader told Reuters that the seizures increase geopolitical risks and are likely to lift oil prices when Asian trading resumes on Monday. On the other hand, expectations about the end of the war in Ukraine could limit the growth of oil prices, the trader added.
(Vijesti.ba)
