{"id":7828,"date":"2026-01-07T14:26:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7828"},"modified":"2026-01-07T14:26:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:26:47","slug":"us-military-seizes-venezuela-linked-russian-oil-tanker-oil-and-gas-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7828","title":{"rendered":"US military seizes Venezuela-linked Russian oil tanker | Oil and Gas News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><strong aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"post-label__text\">DEVELOPING STORY<\/strong><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">DEVELOPING STORY, <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 7 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">7 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The United States military commandeered a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela in the North Atlantic after a weeks-long pursuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT \u2014 anywhere in the world,\u201d US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on social media.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:22px\">Two unnamed US officials earlier told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday the operation was carried out by the Coast Guard and US military.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u200cRussian state broadcaster RT reported US forces boarded the Venezuela-linked oil tanker Marinera from a helicopter, and published \u2060an image of the aircraft \u200bhovering near the ship.<\/p>\n<p>RT cited an unnamed source as saying a US \u200bCoast Guard vessel has been \u200cfollowing the tanker and an attempt to seize it during a storm had already been \u200ccarried out.<\/p>\n<p>The operation came after the Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a US maritime \u201cblockade\u201d of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.<\/p>\n<p>US officials say the tanker is part of a so-called shadow fleet that has carried oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia, and Iran in violation of US sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>US forces have been pursuing the Marinera in the Atlantic Ocean since last month in the lead up to the country\u2019s military operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which was carried out on Saturday.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"at-and-mouse-game\">\u2018Cat-and-mouse game\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the tanker nearing Iceland\u2019s exclusive economic zone on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters reported a Russian submarine and warship are in the vicinity as the operation unfolds.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting from Moscow, journalist Dmitry Medvedenko said there have been <span style=\"font-size:22px\">at least two attempts in the past weeks of \u201cthis cat-and-mouse game to seize this tanker\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Russian government has not confirmed whether it sent any vessels or submarines to accompany the Marinera, Medvedenko said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Russian Foreign Ministry only said that it\u2019s monitoring the situation and it\u2019s been calling this pursuit disproportionate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ministry was \u200ccited by state media as \u2060saying the ship, which is now flying the Russian flag, is in international waters and \u200cacting according to international maritime law.<\/p>\n<p>It called on Western countries to \u200drespect the vessel\u2019s right to freedom of navigation.<i\/><\/p>\n<p>The ship was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese group Hezbollah.<\/p>\n<p>The US 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Published On 7 Jan 20267 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States military commandeered a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela in the North Atlantic after a weeks-long pursuit. \u201cThe blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT \u2014 anywhere in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}