US ‘pursuing’ a third vessel near Venezuela hours after seizing tanker, reports say
Trump official addresses gas price fears after oil tanker seizures
- A Trump official has addressed fears that oil tanker seizures will lead to higher prices at the gas pump for Americans.
- The U.S. has seized two tankers within a week and was in “active pursuit” of a third vessel off the coast of Venezuela Sunday as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on a “shadow fleet” of tankers off the Venezuelan coast.
- Two oil tankers were seized because they were operating on the black market and providing oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said Sunday.
- "And so I don't think that people need to be worried here in the U.S. that the prices are going to go up because of these seizures of these ships," he told CBS's Face the Nation. "There's just a couple of them, and they were black market ships."
- Despite official reassurances, oil traders and analysts anticipate a modest increase in oil prices, particularly when Asian trading resumes.