Venezuela’s oil exports shrivel as US seizes tanker off its coast

CARACAS: Venezuela’s oil exports have plummeted since the US seized an oil tanker off the country’s coast this week and imposed new sanctions on shipping companies doing business with the embattled Latin American country, Al Jazeera reported.Oil tanker movements into and out of Venezuelan waters have almost come to a standstill, Al Jazeera’s sources stated, after the US announced that it would seize more vessels as part of its military pressure on Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

The seizure on Wednesday of the Skipper tanker marked the first US capture of Venezuelan oil cargo since Washington imposed sanctions on Caracas in 2019. It also comes amid a US military build-up in the Caribbean, which appears designed to remove Maduro from power.