US Issues License for Chevron to Resume Oil Extraction in Venezuela for 6 Months: Official
19:47 GMT 26.11.2022 (Updated: 04:05 GMT 27.11.2022)
© Richard Drew
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Treasury Department issued a license authorizing Chevron to resume natural resource extraction in Venezuela for six months, a senior US administration official said on Saturday.
Venezuela state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will not receive profits under a new license issued by the Treasury, instead it will go towards paying off debt to Chevron, the senior US administration official confirmed on Saturday.
"Under the license, PDVSA will not receive profit from the sale of oil as profits earned will instead go towards repayment of debt to Chevron," the US official said during a conference call.
"Today, Treasury issued a time-limited general license authorizing Chevron to resume limited natural resource extraction operations in Venezuela. This general license will be effective for six months and the US government retains the authority to amend or revoke the authorization at anytime should [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro fail to negotiate in good faith or follow through on his commitment," the US official said during the conference call.
Chevron, under a new US license, will still be required to provide the US government with significant reports of its financial operations of joint ventures in Venezuela in order to ensure full transparency, a senior US administration official said on Saturday.
"We will continue also to require significant reporting by Chevron on financial operations of the joint ventures to ensure full transparency," the US official said during the conference call.
"I want to be very clear here that Venezuela-related sanctions and restrictions imposed by the United States still remain in place and should not be interpreted as a permissive environment on sanctions," the official said.
The United Nations will serve a major role in facilitating the humanitarian agreement between the Venezuelan government and opposition, but some communication with the United States may be required, the senior US administration official said on Saturday. "The UN is going to have a significant leadership role associated with this [humanitarian agreement]," the US official said during a conference call.
"Certainly, it will require potential... communication with the United States and with Treasury on some of the technical details, but again, this is not something that is being organized or stood up by the United States. It is something that is going to be run by the United Nations."
"Going forward, the United States will consider whether its policies remain open to further calibrating its sanctions on Venezuela, but it will require additional concrete steps by Venezuela agreeing on several key issues, the official said.
