The M/T Skipper seized by U.S. Coast Guard, was a sanctioned crude-oil tanker previously identified as part of an oil shipping network supporting Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.

A hoard of Venezuelan crude on tankers at sea will provide a cushion for Chinese refiners — the biggest buyers — should the US escalate hostilities against the OPEC producer and disrupt exports.