Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 22, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Oil prices rose after the US intercepted a tanker near Venezuela. This marks the third such operation in two weeks, with WTI crude up 0.6%.
(Corrects headline and paragraph 1 to make clear the intercepted tanker was off the coast of Venezuela, not a Venezuelan oil tanker)
BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Oil prices gained on Monday in early Asian trading hours after the U.S. intercepted an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in international waters.
The U.S. is also pursuing another tanker, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the third such operation in less than two weeks if it succeeds.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 34 cents, or 0.6%, at $56.86 per barrel as of GMT 2323.
(Sam Li and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is a grade of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing. It is sourced from the U.S. and is known for its high quality and low sulfur content.
An oil tanker is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil and its products. These vessels are crucial for the global oil supply chain, moving crude oil from production sites to refineries.
International waters, also known as high seas, are areas of the ocean that are not under the jurisdiction of any country. These waters are governed by international law.
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