FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Skipper, which British maritime risk management group Vanguard said was believed to have been seized on December 10, as well as other vessels, off Port Jose, Venezuela, November 14, 2025. 2025 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via REUTERS

By Jonathan Saul, Marianna Parraga and Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The oil supertanker Skipper that was seized by the U.S. near Venezuela this week as part of an increased pressure strategy against President Nicolas Maduro, is heading to Houston, two sources said on Friday.

The Very Large Crude Carrier, which is carrying about 1.85 million barrels of Venezuela's Merey heavy crude according to satellite images analyzed by TankerTrackers.com, is too large to enter the Houston port and will need to anchor nearby and offload the cargo to smaller ships, the sources added.

The Houston-Galveston sector of the U.S. Coast Guard and Port Houston did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, the cargo's seller, did not reply to a request for comment.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said this week the tanker was intercepted and retained under a seizure warrant. Guyana's maritime authority said it was falsely flying the country's flag.

The seizure of the sanctioned oil tanker has sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas. Washington is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Marianna Parraga and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks, Rod Nickel)