U.S. considers oil-restriction costs to itself, Venezuelans

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Trump administration is considering restrictions Venezuela’s oil exports and the sale of U.s.-refined petroleum products to the country, but it is wary of the damage that may cause to American companies, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday.

Tillerson said the U.S. raised the possibility of oil sanctions to punish the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with Argentina officials Sunday and when the secretary of state was in Mexico City on Friday.

Tillerson spoke Sunday at a news conference in Buenos Aires alongside Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie.

“One of the aspects of considering sanctioning oil is what effect would it have on the Venezuelan people, and is it a step that might bring this to an end?” Tillerson said of the conditions in the South American country under Maduro. “Because not doing anything to bring this to an end is also asking the Venezuelan people to suffer for a much longer time.”

That Tillerson has raised the possibility of oil restrictions in both stops of his trip so far to Latin America suggested that the administration is seriously considering such an embargo, which it has so far avoided even as it targets Venezuela’s financial sector and sanctions top officials.

Further isolating Venezuela is a central focus of Tillerson’s weeklong trip to the region, which includes stops in Peru, Colombia and Jamaica after he visited Mexico and Argentina. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on more than a dozen top Venezuelan officials — including Maduro — to punish Venezuela after numerous accusations of electoral abuses and human-rights violations.

Still, sanctioning the oil sector could damage U.S. companies and cost U.S. jobs. Venezuela is a major source of crude imports for the U.S. market, though the amount has declined in recent months. The country is also an important market for American oil refiners.

Discussions about sanctions are focused on “how to mitigate the impact on U.S. business interests,” Tillerson said. The U.S. also recognized that other countries in the region could be hurt by such sanctions, he added.