On Wednesday, the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas, which called the move “an act of international piracy.”
The seizure of the tanker, carrying the name Skipper, was the first interdiction of an oil cargo or tanker from Venezuela, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019, and comes amid signs that the U.S. is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Skipper left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading some 1.8 million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude. It transferred about 200,000 barrels near Curacao to the Panama-flagged Neptune 6 bound for Cuba before the seizure, according to satellite information analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
According to TankerTrackers.com, the Skipper had previously ferried oil between Venezuela and China, Iran and Syria and Iran and China since 2021.
Further direct interventions by the U.S. are expected in the coming weeks targeting ships carrying Venezuelan oil that may also have transported oil from other countries targeted by U.S. sanctions, such as Iran.
The U.S. has assembled a target list of several more sanctioned tankers for possible seizure, according to one person familiar with the matter, and the U.S. Justice Department and Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months, according to two of the people.
The oil tanker Skipper, seized by the U.S. off the coast of Venezuela, is believed to be part of the ‘dark fleet’ transporting sanctioned crude. – TankerTrackers.com
Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, the third-highest monthly average so far this year, as PDVSA imported more naphtha to dilute its extra-heavy oil output. Even as Washington increased pressure on Maduro, Trump’s administration had not previously moved to interfere with oil flows.
Venezuela has had to deeply discount its crude to its main buyer, China, due to growing competition with sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran.
The seized supertanker is part of a “dark fleet” of ships that carry sanctioned oil to their largest destinations. They often turn off their signal or otherwise disguise their locations. Such tankers have been increasingly employed by traders and shippers dealing with Venezuelan oil since Washington imposed the sanctions on the OPEC country.
The global shadow fleet includes 1,423 tankers, of which 921 are subject to U.S., British or European sanctions, according to analysis from maritime data specialist Lloyd’s List Intelligence. They are typically old, their ownership opaque and they sail without top-tier insurance cover to meet international standards for oil majors and many ports.
The ships mostly transport sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela to Asian destinations, according to vessel monitoring data. Many have made separate voyages carrying Iranian or Venezuelan oil and then Russian cargoes.
In the case of Venezuela, they load at ports operated by state-run PDVSA under fake names, shipping and company data show. They typically disguise their locations until long after departure while crossing the Atlantic Ocean heading to Malaysia or China.
