The U.S. pressure on Venezuela intensified overnight with President Donald Trump saying the United States hit a dock on a shore, where alleged drug boats “load up.”
President Trump was vague on details but told reporters that “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” as he spoke to the press after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.
“They load the boats up with drugs, so we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It’s the implementation area. There’s where they implement. And that is no longer around,” President Trump said.
The intensified pressure on Venezuela and the flare-up of U.S.-Iran tensions supported oil prices in early European trade. Both benchmarks were up by about 0.5%, with WTI Crude trading at $58.35 per barrel and Brent Crude topping $62 per barrel, at $62.23.
Earlier this month, the CIA carried out a drone strike on a port facility on Venezuela’s coast, CNN reported early on Tuesday, quoting sources with knowledge of the development.
The CIA carried out the drone hit on a remote dock, allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua drug gang to stash narcotics and load them onto boats for shipment, according to CNN’s sources.
No casualties were reported during the strike as there were no people at the remote dock at the time of the strike, the sources added.
The rising geopolitical tensions in Venezuela and Iran pushed oil prices higher in morning trade in Europe on Tuesday, after they had dipped in early Asian trade, following the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) report on oil inventories, which was delayed due to the Christmas holidays.
Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 0.4 million barrels during the week ending December 19, after holding nearly flat the week prior, the new data showed. The modest build brings commercial crude stockpiles to 424.8 million barrels, which is still about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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