Officials told reporters?on Sunday that the U.S. Coast Guard was pursuing a?oil-tanker near Venezuela in international waters. This would be the third?such operation? in less than a month and the second this weekend.

The official said that the tanker had been sanctioned.

Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity did not specify the location of the operation.

The?White House didn't immediately respond to Sunday's request for a comment. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a "blockade", which would prevent all oil tankers subject to sanctions from entering or leaving Venezuela.

Trump's campaign of pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro includes a stepped-up military presence in the region, and over two dozen military attacks on vessels near Venezuela. The attacks have killed at least 100 people.

Kevin Hassett, the White House's National Economic Council director, said that on Sunday the two first oil tankers were operating in the black market and providing oil to sanctioned nations.

Hassett stated that "people in the U.S. shouldn't be concerned about the price going up due to these seizures of these ships." "There are only a few of them and they were black-market ships."

One?oil?trader said that the seizure of oil assets raises geopolitical risks and will likely push up oil prices when Asian trading resumes Monday. The trader stated that the expectation of a peaceful end to the Ukraine war could keep oil prices in check. Reporting by Idrees Al; Additional Writing by Helen Coster, Editing by Costas Pitas; Andrew Heavens; Sergio Non; and Paul Simao

(source: Reuters)