– Unlike previous arrangements, the latest US Treasury license for the oil company is clouded in mystery.
MEXICO, CITY, Mexico, (venezuelanalysis.com) – Chevron will retain its direct staff and preserve joint-venture assets following US approval of a new sanctions waiver to continue some of its activities inside Venezuela after the May 27 expiry of its previous license.
The US oil company, which had been lobbying for yet another extension of its license from the US Treasury Department, has reportedly wound down operations in the South American country and has already terminated oil production, service and procurement contracts.
Shipping data and documents also confirmed that buyers of Venezuelan oil under US approval, including European firms, had left the country. It is presently unknown whether companies such as Repsol and Maurel & Prom, which own joint venture stakes in the Caribbean nation, will also be granted sanctions waivers to preserve their assets.
According to sources, under its new specific license from Washington, Chevron cannot operate oil fields in Venezuela, nor export its oil. Reuters first reported on the latest developments.
Unlike previous arrangements, however, the latest authorization for the oil company is clouded in mystery, with the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) not publishing the document on its website. The new guidelines are said to be similar to the strongly limited license Chevron held for its Venezuela operations between 2020 and 2022.
The Texas-based enterprise received General License 41 under the Biden administration in November 2022 to resume crude extraction and export operations in the country. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth argued before the Trump administration that the company’s withdrawal from Venezuela would benefit Chinese rivals.
As a result of the suspension of its contracts and following Venezuelan law, Chevron will hand operational control to state oil firm PDVSA, which owns majority stakes in four joint ventures, which together produce around 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Venezuelan oil production has already dropped, with analysts predicting a possible 15 to 30 percent decline of the country’s output and exports by the end of next year.
Caracas has already begun rerouting crude shipments previously assigned to Chevron to China. Revenue is also expected to take a hit as cargoes will have to be sold via intermediaries at a discount in order to circumvent US sanctions.
The latest moves by Washington against Venezuela’s oil industry come as the Donald Trump administration continues to pursue its regime change strategy against the Nicolás Maduro government.
Trump has largely rolled back the small concessions made by the previous Biden administration to loosen restrictions on the Venezuelan oil industry, returning to the “maximum pressure” campaign put in place during his first term. Venezuela’s oil sector remains under financial sanctions and an export embargo, with the White House also threatening 25 percent “secondary tariffs” in order to hurt Venezuelan oil sales.
White House Special Envoy Richard Grenell had reportedly negotiated a deal with Caracas for a 60-day extension of Chevron’s waiver. That agreement, which also resulted in the release of US Air Force veteran Joseph St. Clair from Venezuelan custody, was subsequently nixed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after St Clair was already back on US soil.
Rubio’s decision was allegedly driven by lobbying by anti-Maduro politicians in his native Florida ahead of a crucial congressional budget vote. The Cuban-descendant representatives have fiercely pushed for a return to a heavy-handed approach to US-Venezuela relations under Trump.
The confidential nature of the new license is suspected to be driven by an effort to keep this lobby from continually interfering in White House policy toward Venezuela.
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