The U.S. government does not plan to systematically ease sanctions on Venezuela after an initial round of measures allowed partners in state oil company PDVSA to resume taking oil to pay off past debts, a government official said. state department.
In November, Washington issued a six-month license allowing Chevron Corp to expand its operations and export Venezuelan oil to the United States. Eni and Repsol have also started to go into debt with Venezuelan crude with the approval of the United States. This year, Trinidad and Tobago received the green light from the United States to jointly develop an offshore natural gas field with Venezuela.
These measures taken by the administration of US President Joe Biden contrast with the “maximum pressure” policy of former President Donald Trump, who imposed restrictions aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
But the State Department licenses do not indicate a general shift in policy toward Venezuela, Jose Fernandez, undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, said during a briefing. an interview with Reuters at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
“There have been limited changes to the specific penalties and we can resume them at any time,” Fernandez said. The Chevron license came after Maduro’s administration resumed political talks with the opposition in Mexico last year, while Trinidad’s clearance was sought by Caribbean countries to clinch future energy supplies .
I can say categorically that we have no intention of further liberalizing Venezuela,” Fernandez said, stressing that “at the moment there are no ongoing liberalization projects in Venezuela”: “At this time, there are no plans to further ease the sanctions.
Chevron received and shipped about 86,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude last month after resuming exports to the United States after a four-year hiatus.
Cargoes from Chevron, Eni and Repsol did not represent an increase in Venezuela’s overall oil exports. The country will need massive new investment after years of conflict with international oil companies, the exodus of skilled personnel and US sanctions.
Last year, exports from Venezuela were 716,000 bpd, a slight increase from the previous year, according to data provided to OPEC. They represent only a fraction of the 2.8 million bpd that the country produced ten years ago.
Oil analysts and executives at CERAWeek said they did not expect a major increase in oil exports from Venezuela that could stabilize disruptive oil markets after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Fifteen years ago, “there were a lot of international investors in Venezuela. Production was over 3 million bpd…Today, look at Venezuela,” said Alistair Routledge, country manager of Exxon Mobil for Guyana.
“It is essential that governments understand that we are investing for 20 to 30 years, and therefore we need stability and favorable regulations,” he added.
