US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump

US politics & policyAdd to myFTGet instant alerts for this topicManage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTUS seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says TrumpOil price jumps as Washington increases pressure on regime of Nicolás Maduro in campaign against drugs tradeAn oil tanker near the Puerto La Cruz refinery in Venezuela in 2018. The country boasts the world’s largest proven oil reserves © ReutersUS seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on x (opens in a new window)US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on facebook (opens in a new window)US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on linkedin (opens in a new window)US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on x (opens in a new window)US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on facebook (opens in a new window)US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on linkedin (opens in a new window)US seizes oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, says Trump on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Steff Chávez and James Politi in Washington, Joe Daniels in Bogotá and Jamie Smyth in New YorkPublishedDecember 10 2025Jump to comments sectionPrint this pageUnlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldPresident Donald Trump said US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, escalating tensions with the regime of Nicolás Maduro. “As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump said at a White House event on Wednesday. Without offering any further details, the US president added: “Other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later, and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”The seizure comes as Trump weighs taking military action on Venezuelan soil, expanding his campaign to crack down on drug traffickers based in the country and raising pressure on Maduro to step down. “His days are numbered,” Trump said of Maduro in an interview with Politico published on Tuesday. The seizure of the tanker caused Brent crude prices to rise by more than 1 per cent to $62.68 in mid afternoon trading, amid concerns Venezuela could struggle to ship its oil overseas.The US Coast Guard, Navy and Southern Command (Southcom) referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for further details. Maduro did not mention the seizure in a speech in Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, though he struck a defiant tone towards the US.“We are prepared to break the teeth of North American imperialism”, he said, before launching into a rendition of Bob Marley’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.“Anyone who wants Venezuelan oil must respect the law and national sovereignty,” Maduro said. “We will never again be an oil colony.”A spokesperson for the Venezuelan government declined to comment on the tanker seizure until Maduro speaks on the matter.The US has amassed its largest military build-up in the Caribbean Sea since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in a move widely seen as an effort to pressure Maduro to leave power. Since early September, the US has also conducted 22 strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 87 people. The military campaign has raised a plethora of legal questions and allegations that it has violated both domestic and international law. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has been engulfed in a firestorm over the legality of that first attack, which featured a follow-up attack that killed two survivors of the initial strike. Hegseth has defended the military’s authority to conduct the second attack on September 2, but has distanced himself from the decision by saying he was not in the room when the order was given. Venezuela, a founding member of Opec, boasts the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and at the turn of the century produced about 3mn barrels a day.But mismanagement, corruption, and “maximum pressure” sanctions imposed during Trump’s first term led output to crater to 500,000 b/d in 2020. Production has recovered somewhat since then, with exports reaching just over 900,000 b/d last month. US oil company Chevron has a licence to operate in Venezuela and produces about 240,000 b/d in the country. But most of Venezuela’s oil exports are shipped to China via intermediaries, often at a steep discount.Schreiner Parker, partner and head of emerging markets at Rystad Energy, said any move by Trump to place an embargo on Venezuelan oil shipments or disrupt tanker flows would be very damaging for Maduro. “It definitely makes things much more difficult for him, because it restricts the monetary flow. He has very few things that produce cash and oil is one of those things that produces the hard currency for him to keep his machine running.”The tanker seizure comes on the same day that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel peace prize. Machado, who has lived in hiding in Venezuela for 16 months, left the country earlier this week in order to attend the ceremony, though did not reach Oslo in time. Her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.Additional reporting by Ana Rodríguez Brazón in CaracasReuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments sectionPromoted Content Follow the topics in this article Oil Add to myFT US politics & policy Add to myFT U.S.

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