has asked the U.S. government to expand its license to operate in Venezuela after the oil major agreed with state-run PDVSA to revamp joint ventures in the sanctioned country, six people close to the matter said.
In late August, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control asked Chevron for clarification and details of the deal with PDVSA, two of the people said. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment. PDVSA and Venezuela’s oil ministry did not reply to a request for comment.The Chevron-PDVSA pact covers a deep revamping of activities at their four projects. It includes a crude-for-diluents swap to facilitate heavy oil processing for export at the large Petropiar venture in the Orinoco Belt, and proposes to resume Petroboscan venture’s oil production, recently halted due to operational bottlenecks, two of the people said.
Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami this week said “the ball is on the U.S. government’s court” when asked about negotiations with Chevron. “We have discussed and agreed with everything related to the immediate restitution of operations.” At least one U.S. lawmaker recently asked Chevron for a copy of its PDVSA deal, two of the people said. The U.S. Congress this year opposed any business expansion that could be seen as an easing of sanctions intended to oust Maduro.