LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump has ordered a ban on all sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The threat of a partial blockade marks an escalation in the Trump administration's pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. It also raises questions about whether the U.S. and Venezuela are edging closer to a direct military conflict.
FADEL: NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre is following this story and joins us now. Good morning, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So with the president's latest announcement, what actions should we expect against oil tankers trying to reach or leave Venezuela's ports?
MYRE: Well, we should look for the U.S. to target oil tankers that the U.S. has already sanctioned, but not all tankers going to and from Venezuela. Now, a full blockade is considered an act of war. But the Trump administration move appears to be limited, blocking only the tankers already on this U.S. Treasury sanctions list. Now, a monitoring group, TankerTrackers, said recently that around 30 of the 80 oil tankers in or near the waters of Venezuela were on this U.S. sanctions list. So those 30 could potentially be targets, while the others presumably would not be. And we saw an example of this just last week when the U.S. Coast Guard seized a fully loaded tanker that was on the list.
FADEL: How do oil tankers get placed on this U.S. sanctions list?
MYRE: So for several years now, the Treasury Department has been keeping this list of so-called ghost ships - tankers that try to disguise their identity and location and are used by countries trying to evade the U.S. and Western sanctions. We're talking about Venezuela, Russia and Iran. So this could be a major blow to Venezuela. The country is so dependent on oil exports. One of these fully loaded tankers can carry about $100 million worth of oil. And if the U.S. does seize more ships, this could have additional consequences. It may just scare away nonsanctioned tankers because they may just decide it's not worth the risk.
FADEL: And how is Venezuela responding?
MYRE: Yeah. President Nicolas Maduro said the country's oil trade won't be stopped. His defense minister went on television and offered a defiant response. He said this U.S. threat is an act of aggression, and it makes clear the main U.S. goal is seizing Venezuela's oil resources. The country has the largest proven oil reserves, but production has dropped dramatically in recent years. One irony, Leila, is that the U.S. oil company Chevron is still a major producer in Venezuela. Chevron is responsible for about a quarter or even as much as a third of Venezuela's production of roughly a million barrels a day.
FADEL: Now, the U.S. has built up a large military presence in the region. What kind of operations could it carry out?
MYRE: So the U.S. has at least a dozen warships in the region and around 15,000 troops at sea and on land. So this is more than enough firepower to stop oil tankers or keep up these attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats that we've seen. And also, the U.S. could carry out sustained airstrikes against Venezuela if that becomes part of the plan. However, if Trump is considering a ground invasion, then the U.S. would need a significant force, perhaps more than is in the region right now.
FADEL: NPR's Greg Myre. Thank you, Greg.
MYRE: Sure thing, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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