Trump administration to step up pressure campaign on Venezuelan oil

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to step up a sanctions campaign on Venezuela's oil sector and will be more aggressive in punishing people and companies that violate them, the top U.S. envoy to the Latin American country said on Monday.

In an interview with Reuters, U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said Washington would go after customers of Venezuelan oil, including those in Asia, as well as intermediaries helping Caracas hide the origin of their oil. His comments come almost a week after the United States blacklisted Rosneft Trading SA, a Geneva-based trading unit of Russian energy giant Rosneft, to pressure Moscow to cut its support of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whom the Trump administration opposes.