In a move officials say will attempt to pressure Venezuela’s Maduro government stepping down, the US has imposed broad sanctions on the nation’s state-run oil firm PDVSA. The sanctions are expected to greatly reduce Venezuelan oil exports to the US.
The US didn’t formally ban Venezuelan oil from entering the US. They
did, however, require that all payment for that oil go into a “blocked
account” that the Maduro government can’t access. Effectively this means
they can keep sending oil to the US, but the US won’t necessarily be
paying for it.
It is expected that Venezuela will start expecting tankers bound for the
US to pay at the port instead, and President Maduro accused the US of
trying to steal PDVSA’s US refinery company, Citgo, it’s most valuable
asset.
It’s not clear what Citgo’s immediate plans are, but other refiners say
they don’t expect any disruption in overall supply from the Venezuelan
sanctions.
US Imposes Sweeping Sanctions on Venezuela Oil Firm PDVSA
Maduro accuses US of trying to steal Citgo refining arm
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
Join the Discussion!
We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.
For more details, please see our Comment Policy.
