U.S. pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela, officials say

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told 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 U.S. 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.

British maritime risk management group Vanguard, along with a U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

Trump’s pressure campaign

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

U.S. 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 U.S. on 10 December, reached the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area near Houston on Sunday.

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 U.S. 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. 

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

• Growing concerns over U.S. strikes on Venezuelan vessels amid regional destabilisation fears
• Trump orders 'blockade' of sanctioned oil tankers leaving and entering Venezuela
• U.S. interception of Skipper tanker signals harder line on Venezuela

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.

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