Chevron Cleared to Stay in Venezuela

By Timothy Gardner
Friday, July 26, 2019

The Trump administration said on Friday it has renewed Chevron Corp's license to drill for oil and gas in Venezuela despite sanctions, signaling it sees value in having the U.S. oil producer operate in a country on the verge of economic and political collapse.

The Treasury Department said it renewed the license for three months for Chevron, the last U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, a member of the OPEC producer group. The license runs through Oct. 25, 2019.

"Our operations in Venezuela continue in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations," Chevron spokesman Ray Fohr said in a release.

The United States imposed heavy sanctions on Venezuela early this year in an effort to force out socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Other U.S. oil field companies had been given licenses despite the sanctions but all have largely halted operations there because of the instability.

Washington has been trying to force out Maduro, and supports opposition leader Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly.

In January the administration imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA that have cost Maduro's government billions of dollars in oil assets, but issued Chevron a six-month license to keep its operations going.

Chevron has four joint ventures with PDVSA that produce the equivalent of about 200,000 barrels per day of oil, and its stake in the ventures recently produced about 40,000 bpd. The company, which has been in Venezuela for nearly 100 years, says there are about 8,000 employees, contractors and direct suppliers involved in the ventures.

The renewal of the license was a win for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others in the administration who believe that having a U.S. company in Venezuela would be an asset after any ouster of Maduro and would serve as a beachhead to help the country's oil dependent economy recover more quickly.

The president's national security adviser John Bolton, who has pushed for maximum pressure on Venezuela, had favored letting Chevron's license expire in hopes it would tighten the noose on Maduro's leadership by leading to another dip in the country's energy production.

As of July, Venezuela's output was just 734,000 bpd, about half of what it averaged in 2018, prior to U.S. sanctions, when production was 1.4 million bpd, according to OPEC figures.


(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Luc Cohen in Caracas and Susan Heavey; Editing by David Gregorio)

Categories: Legal Energy Oil Production South America Regulations

Related Stories

SBM Offshore, SLB to Optimize FPSO Performance Using AI

Aesen, DOC JV Targets Subsea Cable Logistics

Timor Gap Boosts Stake in Finder Energy’s Timor-Leste Oil Fields

Seatrium Secures ABS Backing for Deepwater FPSO Design

MDL Secures Cable Laying Job in Asia Pacific

Hanwha Ocean's Tidal Action Drillship Starts Maiden Job with Petrobras

Saipem Wins FEED Contract For Abadi LNG Project FPSO Module In Indonesia

Seatrium Engages Axess Group to Clear FPSOs for Brazil Deployment

CNOOC Starts Production at Offshore Field in South China Sea

BP Expands Oil and Gas Scope in Azerbaijan with New Projects and Exploration Rights

Current News

Ventura Offshore’s Semi-Sub Rig to Keep Drilling for Eni in Asia

SBM Offshore, SLB to Optimize FPSO Performance Using AI

MODEC Ramps Up Hammerhead FPSO Work After ExxonMobil's Go-Ahead

Aesen, DOC JV Targets Subsea Cable Logistics

Timor Gap Boosts Stake in Finder Energy’s Timor-Leste Oil Fields

SBM Offshore Starts Construction of FSO for Trion Oil Field off Mexico

Russia Targets 2028 for Sakhalin-3 Gas Project Start Up

Seatrium Secures ABS Backing for Deepwater FPSO Design

MDL Secures Cable Laying Job in Asia Pacific

Hibiscus Petroleum Starts Drilling at Teal West Field off UK

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com