WASHINGTON: The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA on Monday in the latest effort to ramp up pressure on the country's President Nicolas Maduro.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the sanctions prevented Maduro from diverting more resources from the crisis-damaged country until control in Caracas could be transferred to an interim government or new democratically-elected government.

However, Mnuchin said PDVSA's US-based subsidiary Citgo will be able to continue operations, as long as its earnings are deposited into a blocked account in the United States.