Supertanker Skipper seized by US near Venezuela is heading to Houston, sources say

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 is carrying about 1.85 million barrels of Venezuela's Merey heavy crude, according to satellite images analyzed by TankerTrackers.com. It is too large to transit through the Houston ship channel and will need to anchor nearby and offload the cargo to smaller ships, the port said.

"At this time, we have not received any notifications or agent filings indicating that the M/V SKIPPER is scheduled to call the Port of Houston," the Greater Houston Port Bureau's President Eric Carrero said.

The Houston-Galveston sector of the U.S. Coast Guard 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.