The United States ratcheted up its sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry on Tuesday, focusing this time on maritime companies and their assets who have been assisting the Latin American country in getting its blacklisted crude oil to market, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said on Tuesday. “The illegitimate Maduro regime has enlisted the help of maritime companies and their vessels to continue the exploitation of Venezuela’s natural resources for the regime’s profit,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, adding that the US will continue to target anyone to supports Maduro’s regime and contributes “to the suffering of the Venezuelan people.” The additional sanctions comes on the same day as PDVSA documents showed that Venezuela’s oil exports plummeted to a 17-year low, according to Reuters . Venezuela exported just a hair over 450,000 bpd of crude oil in May—just 18 cargoes. The 17-year low is attributed in part to the […]