Washington: US President Joe Biden didn’t rule out the possibility of easing sanctions on Venezuela, telling reporters that his administration has “a lot of alternatives” to counter the effect of a decision by a group of the world’s most prominent oil-producing countries to reduce production.
“There’s a lot of alternatives. We haven’t made up our mind yet,” Biden told reporters on Thursday before departing the White House.
He called he announcement made the previous day by the group known as OPEC+ a “disappointment”, reports Xinhua news agency.
The President made the remarks while replying to a question whether easing sanctions on Venezuela was one of the options.
The OPEC+, which comprises members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil-rich countries, announced Wednesday during a gathering in Vienna that the group will cut production by 2 million barrels per day from November.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the Biden administration is considering easing sanctions on Venezuela so that Chevron, a major US oil company, can be allowed to resume pumping oil in the South American nation.
Washington has been calling for ramping up oil production to buttress the global economy.
Citing anonymous US government sources, the report said the easing of sanctions is conditioned on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holding talks with the opposition in good faith.
“There are no plans to change our sanctions policy without constructive steps from the Maduro regime,” Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, was quoted as saying.
A senior administration official told reporters that Washington’s policy toward Venezuela has not changed.
“We continue to believe that a Venezuelan-led dialogue that leads to the restoration of free and fair elections in the country is our priority and are prepared to calibrate our overall sanctions policy accordingly,” the official said.
–IANS