US rolled back Venezuela sanctions

By Franziska Spiecker and Anna Ringle

Washington (dpa) — The United States is lifting some of its sanctions on Venezuela to allow the transport and sale of Venezuelan oil on the global market, the US Department of Energy said on Wednesday.

The department did not specify which sanctions would be eased or when the changes would take effect. Several oil tankers involved in transporting Venezuelan crude are currently subject to US sanctions.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA said it was in talks with the United States over the sale of Venezuelan crude following the announcement.

“Negotiations are currently under way with the US regarding the sale of crude oil volumes within the framework of existing trade relations,” PDVSA said in a statement, adding that the basis for the trade would be transparency and “mutual benefit.” PDVSA itself has been subject to US sanctions since 2019.

The move comes after Washington said it plans to take control of future oil sales from Venezuela, following a US military operation last weekend in which the country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, was captured and taken to the United States to stand trial.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the United States would sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely,” beginning with crude currently stored in the country and continuing with future production.

“We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela — first this backed-up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright said at an energy conference in Aventura, Florida.

US rolled back Venezuela sanctions

Wright said the United States was working closely with Venezuelan authorities and that deliveries of diluents needed for oil refining, as well as spare parts, were also planned. He added that the long-term objective was to allow major US energy companies to fully re-engage in Venezuela.

Venezuela has some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves but accounts for only a small percentage of total global oil production. The country’s oil producing infrastructure is in poor condition after decades of state mismanagement, market analysts say.

“The resources are immense. This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse. That’s the plan,” Wright said at the conference, which was hosted by Goldman Sachs.

President Donald Trump said this week that Venezuela’s interim government would hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States. He said the oil would be sold at market prices and that he would personally oversee the proceeds to ensure they were used “to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.”

It was initially unclear over what period the oil would be delivered. The volume cited by Trump is roughly equivalent to one to two months of Venezuela’s total oil production and could be worth close to $3 billion at current market prices.

Trump said on Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela and that US oil companies would invest billions of dollars to repair the country’s damaged energy infrastructure and restore production.

Oil exports are the Venezuelan government’s most important source of revenue and foreign currency. In recent years, China has been the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude.