An oil tanker seized by the United States near Venezuela earlier this month is now close to the Gulf Coast.Anonline marine traffic trackeron Monday showed the tanker located about 40 miles from Galveston, an island south of Houston.
According to the Greater Houston Port Bureau, the tanker is too large to enter the Houston Ship Channel.
Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston, said the tanker was likely sent to the Galveston area because of its oil infrastructure.
"It's the closest harbor (that's) closest to oil infrastructure on the Texas Gulf Coast," he said. "It's pretty easy to get that oil onto shore."
Hirs said the oil will have to be unloaded to smaller tankers, but what happens after that remains to be seen.
The larger tanker, known as the Skipper, was seized on Dec. 10 amid escalating tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. It’s a conflict that has implications for the oil industry in Houston and beyond.
"I think that's up to maritime law where the oil will go, what the disposition of the tanker will be," Hirs said.
The U.S. Coast Guard referred Houston Public Media to the White House for more information about the tanker's offloading process.The White House did not immediately respond to questions.
The U.S. announced over the weekend that it hadseized a second tankerrecently departing from Venezuela.
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