OFAC general licenses 49 and 50 allow negotiations on crude oil and gas with the Venezuelan government, the state-owned PDVSA or entities related to PDVSA. The measure covers the companies Chevron, BP PLC, the Spanish Repsol, the Italian ENI and Shell PLC
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury authorized two new general licenses that make negotiations and contracts on oil and gas operations more flexible to five international companies, including Chevron.
The general licenses 49 and 50 They allow negotiations on crude oil and gas with the Venezuelan government, the state-owned PDVSA or entities related to PDVSA. However, such contracts or the resolution of any dispute must comply with the laws of the United States and be resolved in that country.
The measure covers the companies Chevron, BP PLC, the Spanish Repsol, the Italian ENI and Shell PLC.
Likewise, it was noted in license 50 that “all monetary payments to a blocked person, excluding payments for local taxes, permits or fees, will be made in the Foreign Government Deposit Funds… or in such other account as directed by the United States Department of the Treasury.”
Payments of taxes or royalties on oil or gas to the Government of Venezuela, PDVSA and their entities must also be paid into the Deposit Funds of Foreign Governments.
*Read also: Venezuela and the US are working on “a very rapid agenda” of cooperation, says Rodríguez
OFAC licenses establish limitations and operations that include non-commercial payment conditions, debt exchanges, payments in gold, or transactions denominated in digital currencies or crypto assets issued by the Government of Venezuela, including the petro, are not permitted.
Transactions involving persons or entities located in or under the laws of Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba or China, nor those related to blocked vessels, are also not authorized.
The licenses are issued after the visit of the US Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, to Venezuela. The official, accompanied by Ambassador Laura Dogu, met with Delcy Rodríguez and representatives of PDVSA at the Miraflores Palace, where they announced progress in gas and oil agreements. They also visited two oil fields in the east of the country, managed by Chevron in conjunction with PDVSA.
Wright assured that there is no established schedule to lift sanctions on Venezuela and that any decision will depend on the “progress” observed on the ground. «The idea is to use leverage to drive progress. “The oil quarantine, obviously, is essentially over now.”
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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