Venezuela oil minister says economy, oil industry under U.S. siege

Venezuela's Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo speaks to the media before the OPEC 14th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2019. REUTERS/Waleed Ali

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said on Sunday his country's economy and oil industry was under economic and financial siege by the U.S. government. "This therefore generates disturbances in the flow of oil supply to the world market as well as serious economic damage and suffering to the Venezuelan people," he said in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ahead of a ministerial panel meeting of top OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Jeddah; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Alison Williams)