For the moment, the US government has chosen not to hit the Venezuelan oil sector with the most severe sanctions in spit of the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro as an " imposture. "
Recently, the Tump adminstration imposed new financial sanctions on Caracas and Venezuela's state oil producer Petroleos (PDVSA), but did not impose a total embargo on U.S. refineries that import Venezuelan crude or prohibiting U.S. firms from selling Venezuela the light oil diluent that the country needs to make its crude oil suitable for refining. Consider the nuclear options of Venezuelan penalties.
The decision to delay these nuclear options is cautious given the current situation on world oil markets. Oil prices have recently soared to multi-year highs of about $80 per barrel, largely due to supply concerns over renewed sanctions against Iran. The final thing the market needs now is more headlines about sanctions that are destroying the production of another OPEC member...
Source:forbes.com