The Trump administration will allow U.S. energy giant Chevron to resume production of crude oil in Venezuela, a source familiar with the situation said Thursday.
The White House move represents a reversal of its previous decision to cancel a permit that Chevron was granted by the Biden administration to continue its decades-long operations in the country ruled by dictator Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration in February revoked the license that the U.S. requires companies have to operate in the country since the U.S. imposed sanctions in 2019.
An administration official said the White House had extended a maintenance license to Chevron for its operations in the country. A second person familiar with the matter said the terms include allowing Chevron to begin lifting oil and exporting it. No taxes or royalties from the oil sales will remain in Venezuela, these people said.
“While we cannot speak to any specific licenses, the U.S. Government will not allow the Maduro regime to profit from the sale of oil,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email.
