US pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela: Officials

Highlights:

• US Coast Guard pursuing sanctioned tanker near Venezuela
• It would be the third interception of a tanker in less than two weeks
• Oil prices edge higher in early trading

The US Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.

"The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned 'dark fleet' vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion," a US official said. "It is 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 by sailing or flying close to vessels of concern.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not give a specific location for the operation or name the vessel being pursued.

British maritime risk management group Vanguard, along with a US maritime security source, identified the vessel as Bella 1, a very large crude oil carrier that was added last year to the sanctions list of the US Treasury Department, which said the vessel has links to Iran.

Bella 1 was empty when it was approaching Venezuela on Sunday, according to TankerTrackers.com. The vessel had in 2021 provided transportation for Venezuela's oil to China, according to internal documents from state-run oil company PDVSA. It had also previously carried Iranian crude, according to the vessel monitoring service.

Trump's pressure campaign

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump last week announced a "blockade" of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela.

Trump's pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has included a ramped-up 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 nation. At least 100 people have been killed in the attacks.

The Skipper, a very large crude carrier and the first Venezuela-related vessel seized by the US on 10 December, reached the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area near Houston on Sunday. Very large crude carriers cannot transit the Houston ship channel, as the waterway is not deep enough, and typically transfer the oil on board to smaller tankers at GOLA.

The first two oil tankers seized were operating on the black market and providing oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said in a television interview on Sunday.

"And so I don't think that people need to be worried here in the US that the prices are going to go up because of these seizures of these ships," Hassett said on CBS' "Face the Nation" program. "There's just a couple of them, and they were black market ships."

Oil prices rose on Monday in early Asian trading hours. Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.89 a barrel as of 0020 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 37 cents, or 0.7%, at $56.89 per barrel.

Traders could view seizures of vessels as "an escalation with more Venezuelan barrels at risk" because the tanker intercepted on Saturday was not under US sanctions, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said on Sunday before Asian markets opened.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that the country's oil trade will continue. But the new US focus on oil tankers will raise geopolitical risks and probably hurt Venezuela's oil revenue, analysts said.

The effects could be felt quickly as Venezuela's export volumes fall significantly and oil storage tanks fill up faster, forcing the OPEC producer to cut output, said Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University's Baker Institute.