A general view of the headquarters of the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA in Caracas, Venezuela. Earlier this month, France-based oil producer Maurel & Prom said it received one of those individual licenses to expand business with Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, but many others are waiting for approval.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven crude reserves, remains under US sanctions since 2019 following President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election, which was not recognised by most Western countries.Licenses are needed for a wide range of energy activities including investing, authorising oil exports and imports, exploring for oil and gas and negotiating contracts and payments.
Spain’s Repsol also received US approval to continue and expand its Venezuelan joint venture oil and gas operations, Reuters reported yesterday.According to guidance by the US State Department to Treasury, Washington aims to prioritize issuing licenses to companies with existing oil output and assets over those seeking to enter the sanctioned Opec nation for the first time, sources told Reuters last week.
“The oil sector is very important to reactivate Venezuela’s economy, but the most important thing of all is the election of July 28th,” Palmieri added.The requests include those of up to 16 companies that have agreed to new or expanded oil and gas joint ventures with PDVSA, officials in Venezuela have said.