Chevron made its first shipments of Venezuelan oil to the United States in early January while one vessel with US diluent oil was en route to Venezuela.
Last November, the US Treasury provided a new license that allows Chevron to extract oil in Venezuela for six months through its joint venture partners such as PDVSA. However, this license did not expand operations or allow new US investment in Venezuela's oil sector.
The United States granted the new license after the Venezuelan government and the opposition resumed talks in Mexico City and came to an agreement on addressing the humanitarian crisis in the country, including an agreement on the continuation of talks focused on elections to be held in 2024.
According to US officials, Venezuela-related sanctions and restrictions imposed by the United States still remain in place and this decision should not be interpreted as a permissive environment on sanctions.