The United States does not plan systematic sanctions relief on Venezuela, which since 2019 has reduced its oil production and exports, even after granting specific licenses to PDVSA partners to collect outstanding debt, a State Department official said.
The Government of President Joe Biden issued a license in November Chevron Corp is given six months to expand its operations and export Venezuelan oil to the United States, followed by an authorization for Trinidad and Tobago to jointly develop an offshore natural gas field with Venezuela.
The European oil companies Eni and Repsol have also been authorized since last year by Washington to import Venezuelan crude, a turn from the more restrictive approach of Donald Trump, who imposed a policy of “maximum pressure” in an effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro from power.
The State Department does not view the recent licenses as a general shift in its policy toward Venezuela, he told Reuters Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment José Fernández on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this week.
“There was a change in the specific sanctions for Chevron and it is limited, at any time it can be reversed,” said Fernández. “I can categorically say that we have no plans to further liberalize with Venezuela (…) At this time there are no plans to further liberalize the sanctions.”
Chevron received and shipped about 86,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude in February after resuming exports to the United States in early 2023 after a four-year hiatus.
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