The Trump administration moved Tuesday to allow U.S. oil companies to rehabilitate their existing oil drills, pipelines and other assets in Venezuela while the country remains under U.S. sanction.
The latest general license from Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, shared first with POLITICO, marks a crucial step in President Donald Trump’s efforts to entice international oil companies to invest in Venezuela after the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. It will allow companies to start setting the stage for U.S. oil producers to operate in a country whose oilfields have not seen major new investment in decades.
Major oil companies have been reluctant to heed Trump’s call, however, given the country’s ramshackle oil infrastructure and uncertain politics.
Tuesday’s license authorizes “transactions for the maintenance of oil or gas operations in Venezuela, including the refurbishment or repair of items used for oil or gas exploration, development, or production activities.”
