WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The White House has ordered U.S. military forces to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a "quarantine" of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months, a U.S. official told Reuters, indicating Washington is currently more interested in using economic rather than military means to pressure Caracas.

Venezuela has accused the United States of the "greatest extortion" at an emergency session of the UN Security Council in New York. Washington's seizure of two Venezuelan oil tankers was "worse than piracy," the Venezuelan ambassador to the UN said.

A sanctioned oil tanker pursued by US forces turned away from Venezuela and retreated out into the Atlantic Ocean, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Trump administration continues a blockade piling pressure on Caracas.

Under international law, Venezuela has control over its own oil — but its efforts to nationalize its oil industry in 2007 did result in arbitration.

The U.S. is 'in active pursuit' of an oil tanker after President Donald Trump announced a total blockade of Venezuela's oil exports.

President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. is still actively pursuing an oil tanker linked to Venezuela, but that he's confident the vessel will be seized.

The pursuit of the tanker, off the coast of Venezuela, is the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than a week.

President Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and exiting Venezuela on Tuesday, continuing his escalations against the Latin American country and its leader, Nicolás

The U.S. is gathering more manpower and weaponry to seize the sanctioned Bella 1 as it flees in the Atlantic.

A Venezuela-bound vessel fled after rebuffing an attempt by the Coast Guard to seize it, the latest twist in the escalating U.S. pressure campaign against the Maduro government.

Tanker loading in Venezuela dwindled on Monday, following U.S. action against two more ships and as state-run energy company PDVSA struggles to recover from a cyberattack.

The president has previously argued that the U.S. should have taken Iraq's oil after the 2003 invasion, telling ABC News in 2015, "You win the war and you take it"