The Trump administration on Friday granted licenses authorizing US company Chevron and four European petroleum giants to operate in Venezuela, as Washington eyes production growth after ousting the country’s president.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted general licenses to BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell “authorizing transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela,” with certain conditions.
The move comes shortly after US President Donald Trump’s energy secretary traveled to Venezuela and met with interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, who took over following the seizure of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
Rodriguez has won high praise from the Trump administration for her cooperation thus far, which has included a quick passage of legal reforms to the Venezuelan oil sector.
The two-page general license issued by OFAC requires any payments in oil and gas royalties go to accounts designated by the US Treasury Department, which is consistent with Trump administration statements that Washington will manage assets in custody for the benefit of Venezuela.
A second OFAC license issued Friday permits companies to negotiate for potential contracts “for certain investment in Venezuela.” However, the US agency will continue to bar participation by several countries, including China, Iran and Russia.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the the US oil embargo on Venezuela, in place since 2019, was “essentially over.”
Wright, who became the highest level official to visit Caracas since Maduro’s toppling, called for a “dramatic increase” in Venezuela’s production of oil, natural gas and electricity which would improve “the job opportunities, the wages and the quality of life” of all Venezuelans.
The country produced 1.2 million oil barrels per day in 2025 — up from a historic low of about 360,000 in 2020 — but still far from the 3.0 million bpd it was pumping 25 years ago.
Add Comment