The US Treasury said it had given permission to Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX). resume resource extraction activities in Venezuela on a limited scale.
“OFAC (the sanctions enforcement arm of the US Treasury Department) has issued a general license for Venezuela allowing Chevron Corporation to resume limited resource extraction operations in Venezuela,” the statement said.
According to the document, the company is allowed to extract, transport and supply to the United States oil or oil products produced by Chevron’s joint ventures (JV) (the license does not allow deliveries to any other countries), as well as carry out any related maintenance and repairs on the JV assets. In addition, Chevron was granted the right to purchase and import into Venezuela goods or resources related to the above activities, including diluents, condensates, oil or natural gas products.
The US Treasury said in a statement that the license is worded so that the Venezuelan state company PDVSA does not benefit from the sale of oil by Chevron. Thus, the text of the document notes that the license does not allow the payment of any taxes or royalties to the government of Venezuela, as well as the payment of any dividends to PDVSA or any legal entity in which PDVSA directly or indirectly owns 50% or more percent of the shares.
The Treasury emphasizes that the license “permits only activities related to joint ventures with Chevron in Venezuela.” “It does not allow other interactions with PDVSA. The rest of the Venezuela-related sanctions imposed by the United States remain in place,” the message emphasizes.
The ministry explained that they decided to issue a similar license to Chevron after the Venezuelan opposition and the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the resumption of negotiations.
