The United States seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday afternoon, though few details have been released so far.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually, and other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later, and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people,” the president said.
The operation was reportedly carried out by the Coast Guard. Trump did not specify the name of the tanker or identify what flag it was flying. He said he has not spoken to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro since their conversation last month.
After referring more questions to the “appropriate people,” Trump said the tanker “was seized for very good reason.”
Last month, Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day of crude, according to estimates from Reuters. Any major disruption in its oil output could send a ripple effect through the global markets. Prices began to climb following the news of the seizure, with international and domestic benchmarks jumping by a bit over 50 cents.
Trump said he expected the U.S. to keep the oil seized during the operation. The tanker was bound for Cuba, according to Axios.
Just after 3 p.m., Brent Crude was up by 0.87% and priced at $62.48 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose by 0.89% and was selling at $58.77 per barrel.
Trump has ordered the largest military buildup in the Western Hemisphere in decades and earlier this week said Maduro’s “days are numbered” as Venezuela’s president, whom the U.S. views as illegitimately elected. This was the first publicly reported seizure of an oil tanker near Venezuela since these operations began.
The president has discussed the possibility of military strikes on Venezuelan soil as part of the administration’s broader counternarcotics strategy, which includes blowing up suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
The military has targeted more than 20 vessels it says are drug smugglers since September but has not shared evidence to prove there were narcotics on board and that those killed in the strikes, more than 80 people so far, were in fact smugglers.
Trump has also discussed the possibility of strikes on cartels in Mexico and Colombia.
U.S. Southern Command, which is overseeing Operation Southern Spear, declined to comment, instead referring the Washington Examiner to the White House, which did not respond to a request for additional details.
