Trump orders total blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers as the South American nation controls world's largest oil reserves with over 300 billion barrels.

President Donald Trump says U.S. forces have seized a sanctioned oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, in what Bloomberg calls a “serious escalation” of his campaign to oust Nicolás Maduro and choke the country’s vital oil exports.

Mojtaba Ghahramani, a provincial chief of the justice department, said the oil tanker was carrying 25,000 barrels of smuggled fuel when naval forces seized the vessel.

Trump administration is aiming to interrupt a shadow fleet of tankers that supply sanctioned oil to several U.S. adversaries.

Some oil vessels are diverting away from Venezuela after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the South American country.

There’s a record 1.4 billion barrels of crude currently on the world’s oceans, pushing down benchmark prices and sending gasoline under $3 a gallon at the pump in the US.

In its 21-century incarnation, which the administration calls the Trump Corollary—others are referring to it as the “Donroe” Doctrine—the policy emphasizes U.S. dominance in the Americas and rejects the influence of globalization.