US forces board Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in North Atlantic, US official says
It’s been all about grabbing Venezuela’s oil. Lawmakers reacting with concern after President Donald Trump said Tuesday Venezuela will turn over 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the US The president writing on Truth Social, the oil will be sold at market value and the 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 lawmakers expressing skepticism. I don’t think either the American people or Venezuelan people are ever going to get the benefit of that money regardless. Venezuela is home to roughly 1/5 of the world’s proven crude oil reserves, leading all countries with 303 billion barrels. We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world. Go in, spend billions of dollars, but experts say the prospect of oil companies running operations in Venezuela raises questions. There are two sides of that equation, right? One is, is the Venezuelan government going to fight back? The other part of it is, you know, will big oil in the United States take the kind of risks of doing. Large scale investment that is required. While some may wonder about the impact on gas prices, 30 to 50 million barrels of oil may sound like *** lot, but to put it in context, the US consumed just over 20 million barrels per day over the past month. So while it might lower oil prices *** bit, it won’t likely lower Americans’ gas prices that much. I’m Reed Binion reporting.
US forces board Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in North Atlantic, US official says
U.S. forces have boarded a Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in the North Atlantic after pursuing it for weeks, a U.S. official said.Video below: ‘We’ve got a lot of oil to drill’: President Trump announces plan to receive oil from VenezuelaThe official spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations. The official said the U.S. military sized the vessel and handed over control to law enforcement officials.The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The U.S. Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.The ship, once known as the Bella 1, was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show.
U.S. forces have boarded a Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in the North Atlantic after pursuing it for weeks, a U.S. official said.
Video below: ‘We’ve got a lot of oil to drill’: President Trump announces plan to receive oil from Venezuela
The official spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations. The official said the U.S. military sized the vessel and handed over control to law enforcement officials.
The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.
The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The U.S. Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.
The ship, once known as the Bella 1, was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show.