The US Executive is considering sanctions on a Venezuelan oil services company run by the military, and restricting insurance coverage for Venezuelan oil shipments, Reuters reports, citing an unnamed US official close to US internal deliberations on Venezuela policy, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said that the US was considering sanctions that would target Venezuela’s oil sector beyond any earlier sanctions. The official would not rule out an eventual full-scale ban on Venezuelan oil shipments to the US, putting the sanctions at a level not far from those on Iran. No decisions had yet been made and any US action would take into consideration potential harm to ordinary Venezuelans, already suffering from food shortages and hyperinflation, and the country’s neighbours, as well as the impact on the US oil industry and consumers, said Reuters, citing the official.