The Biden administration granted Chevron a license to pump oil in Venezuela on Saturday, after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government agreed to resume long-suspended talks with opposition forces.
By Washington Examiner – Emily Jacobs
Nov 27, 2022
The license approval is a result of the US Treasury Department lifting a key sanction that was blocking Chevron, the last remaining US oil company in Venezuela, from producing and exporting oil from the country. Under Chevron’s limited license, the company will only be permitted to export oil produced in Venezuela to the United States. Chevron is also forbidden from giving profits from the sale of that oil to the Venezuelan government.
While no new drilling was specifically authorized in the new, six month license issued to Chevron, the company will now be able to do repairs on oil fields that have not been properly maintained since US sanctions were implemented in 2019.
“We have long made clear we believe the best solution in Venezuela is a negotiated one between Venezuelans,” a senior Biden administration official said Saturday while briefing reporters. “To encourage this, we have also said we were willing to provide targeted sanctions relief.”
The policy “remains open to further calibrating sanctions,” the official continued, adding that “any additional action will require additional concrete steps,” including the release of political prisoners, recognition of opposition legitimacy, and allowing unfettered access for UN humanitarian missions.
The Biden administration has struggled to reduce painful energy costs for consumers, which have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and recent OPEC+ production cuts. Saudi Arabia warned this week that it could extend those cuts further next month when the group meets in Vienna. The White House is also bracing for additional market turmoil in December, when both the Russian price cap endorsed by G-7 nations and an EU ban on Russian seaborne crude take effect.
The administration official speaking about the Chevron matter dismissed reports that move was part of a larger effort to lower energy prices, saying that they did not expect the new license to impact global oil costs.
“Allowing Chevron to begin to lift oil from Venezuela is not something that is going to impact international oil prices. This is really about Venezuela and the Venezuelan process,” the official said, where the United States is “supporting a peaceful, negotiated outcome to the political, humanitarian and economic crisis.”
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