Topline
The U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, the latest military incursion near Venezuela as the Trump administration pressures Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to resign.
A Venezuelan navy patrol boat escorts Panamanian flagged crude oil tanker Yoselin near the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela on November 11, 2025. (Photo by JUAN CARLOS HERNANDEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump confirmed the news reported earlier in the day by Reuters, telling business leaders at the White House the tanker was “the largest one ever seized.”
Details of the seizure led by the U.S. Coast Guard—including the name of the tanker, its country of origin and where it took place—are unclear, according to Reuters.
The price of oil futures rose 56 cents, to $58.93 per barrel, after the seizure was made public.
The seizure comes amid an increase in U.S. military presence off the coast of Venezuela and a series of attacks on alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean.
Big Number
303 billion barrels. That’s the total amount of oil preserves Venezuela has, according to the Oil & Gas Journal, amounting to 17% of the world’s oil supply.