US Seizes Russian-flagged Tanker, a Second Venezuela-linked Ship

• Trump: Venezuela to send oil worth up to $2.8 billion to US 

•Says he will determine how money realised will be spent

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The United States on Wednesday seized two oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine.

The seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker followed more than two weeks of its chase across the Atlantic as part of Washington’s efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports, US officials said.

It appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel, Reuters reported.

The Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, had previously slipped through a US maritime blockade of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it. Wednesday’s seizure effort, in the Atlantic near Iceland, was first reported by Reuters.

In a post on X, the US military’s European Command said the Trump administration had seized the vessel for violating US sanctions. “The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in full effect — anywhere in the world,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in reply to that post.

Two US officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Wednesday’s operation was carried out by the Coast Guard and US military. US special forces initially helped secure the tanker but left the vessel, which was now under Coast Guard control, one of the officials said.

The officials said Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine. It was unclear how close the vessels were to the operation, but there were no indications of a confrontation between US and Russian military forces.

Russia’s transport ministry said it had lost all contact with the Marinera after U.S. naval forces boarded it. A senior Russian lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, Andrei Klishas, said the US seizure was an act of outright piracy, the TASS state news agency reported.

Last year, French Navy commandos detained a tanker suspected of operating for Russia’s “shadow fleet” off the coast of western France.

The seizure took place just days after US special forces swooped into Caracas before dawn on Saturday in a deadly raid to seize President Nicolas Maduro and take him to the United States. The US military turned him over to federal authorities for prosecution on charges involving alleged drug trafficking.

It was unclear where exactly the ship would now go, but sources said it would likely be entering British territorial waters, the Reuters report said.

Relatedly, Trump said Venezuela would relinquish as much as 50 million barrels of oil to the US, worth roughly $2.8 billion at the current market price, announcing the cargoes would be sold with proceeds benefiting both countries.

The announcement, which came with few details, marked a significant step up for the US government as it seeks to extend its economic influence in Venezuela and beyond after the capture of leader Nicolas Maduro over the weekend. It’s also a blow to China, previously the top buyer of the country’s oil and a close partner.

“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 million barrels of high quality, sanctioned oil to the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he added.

The volumes cited by Trump would represent about 30 to 50 days of Venezuelan oil production before the US’s partial blockade of the country — much reduced from historic levels. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US oil benchmark, fell as much as 2.4 per cent after Trump’s comments and is currently trading at close to $56 a barrel, a Bloomberg News report stated.

Representatives of the US Energy Department and the White House did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for more detail. Venezuela’s information and oil ministries also did not respond to requests for comment.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves, but its production has dropped sharply due to decades of neglect and the exodus of many foreign oil companies. The country now accounts for less than one per cent of global supply. Analysts have said that it will take years and billions of dollars of investment to significantly revive output.

“The Chinese government is almost certainly preparing for a scenario in which all its Venezuelan oil shipments are halted,” said Christopher Beddor, Deputy China Research Director at Gavekal Dragonomics. “The Trump administration’s aggressive reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine will have far-reaching implications for China. It’s probably going to force a rethink of China’s import reliance on natural resources from many other Latin American countries.”

Trump did not specify the exact origin of the oil. Venezuela does have a backlog of unshipped crude that has been piling up in storage tanks and aboard contracted ships since the US blockade began last month. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil company, has been rapidly running out of space as the blockade drags on, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

Chevron Corp., meanwhile, is the last American company that’s still producing and exporting barrels from Venezuela under an exemption from US sanctions. It has booked a fleet of at least 11 ships to sail to the government-controlled ports of Jose and Bajo Grande. A Chevron representative didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump said in his post that the sanctioned oil would be “taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright had been tasked with executing the plan “immediately,” he said.

Venezuelan oil is particularly suitable for refineries along the US Gulf Coast, many of which were built to process such heavy-sour crudes. These plants run by the likes of Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp. may stand to benefit from these shipments. Their share prices jumped on Monday after Maduro was seized.

Some of the oil may also find its way to commercial storage tanks, potentially bolstering stockpiles that are currently near five-year seasonal lows, the report said.

ABC reported separately on Tuesday that the Trump administration had told Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, her government must exclusively partner with the US on oil production and favour the US when selling heavy crude.

The White House is also demanding that Venezuela reduces its economic ties to China, Russia, Iran and Cuba, ABC reported, citing three unnamed people familiar with the situation. Doing so would represent a full political realignment for Venezuela, which has relied heavily on the quartet for economic and security stability in recent years.

Prior to the US’s blockade and the capture of Maduro, China was the main beneficiary of the South American nation’s heavily discounted oil. That trade has now largely stopped, save for cargoes that are already in Asia, and Beijing may now need to explore other options such as Iraqi or Canadian crude.

Washington’s effort to cut off that lifeline for the Venezuelan government has been going on for weeks, with tankers targeted by US forces. They had pursued the Bella 1, an empty oil vessel, into the Atlantic. Russia sent a submarine and other naval assets to provide an escort for the ship, Bloomberg quoted Wall Street Journal as having reported.