U.S. intends to seize oil from tanker captured near Venezuela, White House says

The Trump administration plans to hold the oil tanker it seized in waters near Venezuela at an American port in Texas but release the crew once the vessel docks, according to two U.S. officials.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to hold the oil tanker it seized in waters near Venezuela at an American port in Texas but release the crew once the vessel docks, according to two U.S. officials.

The officials said the tanker was seized in international waters. The American personnel on board the tanker have been interviewing the crew and offered for the U.S. to facilitate their travel from the ship after it arrives at a port in Galveston, Texas, the officials said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the U.S. would seize the oil on the tanker after it goes through a “legal process” to do so.

The U.S. seized the vessel, a large tanker known as the Skipper, on Wednesday during a joint operation by the Coast Guard and the Navy at President Donald Trump’s direction as part of his effort to ratchet up the pressure on the Venezuelan regime. It comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, with the Trump administration bombing alleged drug-smuggling vessels and building up military assets in the region. Trump also has threatened that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s days in power are numbered.

The administration has said the tanker is used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. Leavitt called it “a sanctioned shadow vessel, known for carrying black market sanctioned oil” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization.