U.S. Could Move Into Venezuelan Waters To Seize More Tankers, Report Claims

U.S. forces could go into Venezuelan waters to seize more oil tankers, according to a new report.

Forces are currently waiting for the vessels to leave the waters to seize them, but they could go in if they delay much, a Trump official told Axios.

The outlet noted that as many as 18 sanctioned ships are in Venezuela's waters, with eight being classified as "Very Large Cargo Container ships," which can carry almost 2 million barrels, the outlet added.

The official said if tankers leave Venezuelan waters the Trump administration will "go to court, get a warrant and then get them." However, if they "make us wait too long, we might get a warrant to get them there," the official added.

Overall, there are as many as 11 million barrels in 39 tankers, the outlet said, quoting Samir Madani, co-founder of the firm Tanker Trackers, and Reuters.

The Guardian reported that the South American country's oil exports have plummeted after the seizure last week.

Since the seizure, the outlet claimed, only tankers chartered by U.S. oil company Chevron have sailed through the region carrying Venezuelan crude.

The Trump administration is set to continue seizing tankers and has assembled a list of targets to carry out the policy, according to another report.

Reuters noted that the Justice Department and the Department of the Homeland Security had been planning seizures for months. It added that the tankers targeted are the so-called shadow fleet that mostly take oil to China.

The Maduro regime has accused the U.S. of committing an act of "international piracy" after the first seizure. In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, Caracas condemned what it called "a blatant robbery" following President Donald Trump's announcement earlier in the day that U.S. personnel had intercepted a "very large" tanker off Venezuela.

Moreover, the regime accused the U.S. of conducting a cyber attack against its state-run oil company, PDVSA, on Monday.

PDVSA said the alleged attack was "orchestrated by foreign interests in complicity with stateless factors looking to interfere with the country's right to sovereign energetic development."

"It's not the first time the U.S. government, allied with extremist sectors, try to affect national stability and steal Christmas from the Venezuelan people," the company added.

However, it claimed, due to its "human talent," the company's "operational areas did not suffer any impact, reducing the attack to one against its administrative system."